Rebirth of the Four Swords
by thablueGRRL
Summary: After the events of Enies Lobby, the CP9 make their getaway and go on with their lives. Only problem is, only 6 of them emerged from the Air Door. Where is Kaku? On a journey to reclaim his memories - & being constantly side-tracked by the toddler-priestess Mana he's charged with protecting from the Tenryuubito/Navy, a power-hungry demon, & the bad luck she attracts. REWRITING!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I, in no way, shape or form own nor profit from One Piece as a Manga/Anime or anything else. This is purely a fan fiction dedicated to an awesome creation by Oda. One Piece belongs to all its appropiate sponsors and such. **

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><p><em><strong>Somewhere in the Grand Line...<strong>_

The man is sprawled on his left side over a large piece of wreckage as if he'd been struck quite suddenly across the face. His black, tattered clothing is soaked with the seawater currently crashing against the tiny beach to tickle the soles of his bare feet. He wheezes in short, quick breaths, his brow furrowing as if in pain. A breeze stirs the palm fronds of the abrupt line of jungle standing sentinel over his form. He shivers and coughs. Flecks of blood stain the wood's blue paint.

Ocean water rushes in, drenching him up to the ankle. The wood shifts under him forbiddingly. His eye snaps open, the other too caked over with dry blood from a deep gash running along his right temple. A javelin of sunlight skewers into his skull. He screws the eye shut, seeking escape. The golden rays shine through the lid, eliciting a feeling akin to glass trapped under his eyelid. He groans and rolls onto his back, then hisses sharply.

"Argh!" Blood bubbles up in the back of his throat and sits there, no air in his lungs to expel it. His body jerks in odd spasms as he tries to breathe while his Adams' apple bobs up and down sporadically. Lips smack open and shut like a fish suffocating on land, blood trickling out in little rivulets, soaking the high collar of his jacket.

_I'm drowning, _he thinks to himself with stupefied horror. _I'm drowning in my own blood!_ The realization spurs him to action, his arms scrabbling to push himself upright but he was already losing consciousness. He writhes, fighting the darkness hovering at the edge of his vision and rolls off the make-shift raft. He lands chest-first on something blunt and hard. He pales, shallowly inhales, and lets loose a gurgling scream of agony before his world goes black.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: This story is being rewritten, as it is a rather droll embarrassment and I wish to portray my growth as a writer. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The man slowly opens his eyes only to cry out and shield them with a hand, the sunlight like a spear to his skull. A frantic chirping grabs the man's attention and squinting makes out a white... rooster?

"Gagh!" he coughs up blood and starts convulsing, the pain all over his torso almost unbearable. He struggles to breathe properly as if his lungs are filling up with water. With a herculean amount of willpower he forces himself to sit up, causing him to expel an unsettling amount of blood from his lungs. He struggles to hold himself up, not willing to repeat the near-drowning like experience again.

Slowly taking a deep breath he automatically adjusts a cap on his head only to wince as he brushes against the wound on his temple. Taking in his surroundings he can make out that he was on a beach, and from the vegetation could determine that he was on a tropical island.

A sharp jab at his elbow brings him back to the rooster.

"Ouch! What the hell, ja?" He glares at it, not understanding why but it seemed to remind him of someone irritating. Trying to recall who, he's startled to realize...

That he has no memory of who he is. The man concentrates, scrunching his eyes closed from the effort.

_Let's start with something simple... What is my name? My name. My name is...K-K-_

"Kaku!" he shouts. Grinning at the small victory he tries further. With no more results.

"I suppose I should be lucky that I know what a name even _is._" he muses out loud. "Better yet that I can comprehend that I have no memory, ja." He turns to the rooster.

"Chirp!" it replies. If Kaku doesn't know better, he'd say the thing has just insulted him. He shoos it off him, much to its annoyance as he slowly rises off the ground with the aid of a boulder next to him. Something clatters at his feet and looking down sees two swords. For an unknown reason he feels compelled to pick them up and turning around notices a small path in the jungle.

He heads towards it, only to hear the frantic flapping of wings and a weight settle on his shoulder.

"And what makes you think I'll let you come with me?"

The bird just gives him a "Don't-take-me-and-I'll-annoy-the-living-hell-out-of-you" look.

With a sigh the swordsman heads off to find civilization.

**Back to CP9**

The group of ex-assassins were leaving the shores of St. Poplar far behind on the horizon on a pirate ship they have claimed.

**Earlier**

The bowling match isn't really much of a competition. Every member gets a strike, effortlessly hurling the bowling ball down the lane to practically explode like a cannonball complete with a cloud of dust and bits of pins flying everywhere.

"Yosh! Watch this all of you, this is how a master does it." Jyabura holds his ball up and cleans it with a towel, all attention focused on the prey (pins) at the end, his tongue sticks out from the smile on his face.

Blueno is tallying the score (again, all strikes so its really a wasted effort) when a ruckus in the background catches his attention.

"-Candy Pirates have taken a bunch of hostages at the docks. They're threatening to kill one for every hour we delay giving them all the money in our banks!"

Blueno puts down the scoreboard. "Lucci!" The others stop at his tone as the leopard-man turns to him.

"Pirates have taken hostages at the harbor."

His eyes narrow at 'pirates'. It was their civic duty to defend the innocent from the scum.

Grumbling, Jyabura drops his ball on the ball racks on the way out, the bowling alley owner collapsing in relief. If the group had continued he feared he would've needed to get a new wall!

Lucci walks up to a police officer. "Which way to the docks?"

The man startles as a civilian tall and slim man with a closely shaved goatee and … a pigeon on his shoulder confront him.

"I don't know who you are young man but if you haven't heard the docks are overrun with—"

"_Which way to the docks_?"

Sweating bullets the officer swallows a lump in his throat and points with a shaky finger, too intimidated to actually speak. On their way out he can hear them arguing.

"Oi, I got dibs on the captain, you hear me, Monster-Cat?" Jyabura shoots at Lucci as they rush to the scene.

"As if you could handle it, Half-Breed Mutt." he replies coldly.

"The hell'd you say?"

"Now's not the time to be arguing you two," Blueno intervenes.

Jyabura is about to retort when they stop within sight of the docks on a roof. The group all switch to assassin mode, assessing the situation.

There are thirty-four hostages total, the pirate crew penning them in like sheep with guns and cutlasses trained on them. The crew itself range from eighty to 130, the captain in full view.

The boat itself is a decent size, a piece of candy with empty eyes for the mast head. The captain is a pompous, ugly man with a beer gut, a fancy coat and clutches a bottle of alcohol in one hand while he holds a sword in the other. To top it off, on either side of his head are a bun wrapped similarly to a piece of hard candy with the rest of his hair down.

Lucci breaks the silence. "You all know what to do...**soru!"**

As bystanders and pirates watch a group of six people appear out of thin air. The captain chokes on his drink as they continue pacing froward slowly.

"Oh ho, looks like you all want to die that badly huh?," he slurs. "Fine, I'll oblige ya'! Scotch! Pepper Mintle!" Two men appear and charge at the group of elites and are immediately thrown backwards, one taking a blow from Kumadori's staff and the other from Kalifa's kick.

"That's sexual harassment," she informs the one named Scotch who had charged at her, his hair and wardrobe's color scheme similar to that of butter yellow.

"H-how so?" he gasps before blacking out. At the same time Lucci continues walking and nonchalantly kicks the captain in the face and out of his way, stepping on him without a glance. The remaining five pounce on the buccaneers and through them to the remainders on deck. The citizens cheer as they witness their saviors jump in midair and cut the scum with the air itself.

A gurgling sound draws Lucci's attention. "You goddamn brats...! Do you know who I am? As soon as I get another crew I'll kill every last one of these people-"

**C R U N C H!**

The cheering halts and women scream as Lucci carelessly pulls his foot out of the captain's skull, leaving a grotesque shape akin to his boot in it as blood pools around him.

The citizens flee the area, not taking too well to his 'Excessive Justice!' as the newspapers will later report. The group are left alone in a silence unsettlingly similar to Enies Lobby after the Buster Call, the natives fearing them too much now.

None of them speak. "...We cannot remain in this town..." Lucci states.

Jyabura grabs his head. "Dammit, and I was actually enjoying myself here!"

Behind him Kumadori was mimicking his posture although a smile was present upon his face. The rest were turned, facing the town they had come to fondly enjoy. Suddenly a little girl appears in front of Kalifa, one of the hostages she had saved just as a pirate was about to skewer her. In her small hands she holds a beautiful flower.

She walks forward boldly and presents it to Kalifa. "Onee-chan, this is for you. Its the prettiest flower on the island, just like you!" she smiles brightly.

Jyabura, Kumadori and Fukuro are behind Kalifa in an instant, terrified of how the woman will react. Most likely she'll accuse the girl of sexual harassment and kick her to death (unintentionally of course). Kalifa leans forward and they panic, Jyabura's arms reach out ready to grab the woman as she... crouches down to the girl's eye level smiling, brushing her hair behind her shoulder and takes the flower with a smile of her own.

"Thank you, little one." she says, a totally different sentence than what the three are expecting.

The child happily skips away and her mother appears and grabs the girl, fleeing.

The group then turn back to the pirate ship and kick off the unconscious members and set sail for their homeland, the island where future generations of CP9 were trained.

Kalifa holds the flower close and smells its sweet aroma.

It isn't much but things like this are what they truly protect in the end for the sake of justice...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Kaku**

The swordsman trudges through the jungle unhurriedly, the remains of his shirt serving as makeshift bandages leaving only his jacket which despite the temperature doesn't bother him in the least. The vegetation is huge but there is little to no plant life on the forest floor itself. Trees that would take fifteen men with linked hands to circle its width are everywhere, their vast leaf canopies locked together to provide a gloomy atmosphere at the bottom.

Vines hang everywhere, mysterious sounds above, below and behind present set the rooster on edge.

A rushing sound reaches Kaku's ears. _Water!_

He picks up the pace but it takes a good fifteen minutes later for him to reach the seven-story high waterfall plummeting far below into a pool of water hidden from view by mist.

_Fine-tuned senses, swords, total black outfit and my name,_ he lists in his mind. Hopefully things will become clearer in time.

His foot bumps into an object and sends it skittering towards the edge of the cliff. A human skull.

Senses immediately on alert he quickly dives back into the shadows. His eyes roam over the area and an explanation forms in his mind. Several skeletons, mostly covered by moss, fungi or just plain dirt are everywhere. The yellowish tint hints at an ancient battle having taken place between two, no three different factions, most likely tribes-

_Wait, how am I doing this?_

He goes over it in his mind and realizes he has an amazing ability to deduce a large amount of information from the smallest of details. Whatever he is or was, it must be interesting to say the very least.

A sudden urge to bathe grips him, impossible to refuse. Whatever he noticed in his reconnaissance deems the area safe and he strips himself carefully, grimacing at how his jacket cracks from the amount of hardened blood it absorbed earlier.

He approaches the edge and his sharp eyes make out that the water is crystal clear and deep. He backs up a few feet, dashes forward faster than he can blink, leaving his senses reeling, and jumps... several yards farther than he intends.

The rooster's eyes bugged out of its head at the sudden action, frantically flapping its wings as it seems to scream at him "You idiot!"

But its too late as he plummets. Sudden nostalgia grips him as he dives from the dangerous height and images flash through his mind...

_Houses that appear to float on water, the roofs' colors and sizes grow bigger as the distance between rapidly decreases._

_If I hit them I'll die. _Yet the thought does not worry him.

Without realizing he flips over so that his feet are pointing straight down. Just as he connects with the 'roof ' his mind screams _jump!_

One word presents itself.

"**GEPPO!"** He jumps in mid-air! Water splashes him in the face and he snaps out of it.

"Where was that place?" he gasps. Starting to fall again, he kicks his legs struggling to remember what to do. Diving back into the warm memory he kicks his legs faster than the human eye can capture and performs the technique again.

After a few more he finally reaches the top only for the rooster to attack him.

"Watch where you aim that thing!" its beak barely misses his eye. But the creature is too furious and manages to rap him quite sharply on the head before he throws it off. Thanks to that his chance at delving deeper into the memory disappears.

Glaring at the hateful thing he moves to grab his clothes. Kaku gasps as pain returns ten-fold at the unexpected exertion as the adrenaline wears off. He hugs his arms tightly around his chest and scrambles to his knees. The burning is excruciating and he forces himself to yank on his pants. Black hovers at the edge of his vision, threatening to overwhelm him.

He falls on his back and his eyes drift close. Looking up the last thing he manages to see is a group of dark-skinned people pointing at him from the trees connected together with a bridge.

_So that's where the islanders are..._

A group of refugees remaining from the tree tribe Panther Lily scramble down and carry the pale-skinned stranger with them to Muther, the capitol holy city of Tiki-Tiki Island.

**CP9**

After several days the group awaken to the shouting of Fukuro.

"Land-hooooo, chapapa!" he calls.

Kalifa, Blueno and Lucci ascend to the deck calmly as Jyabura and Kumadori jump over them to reach the top first.

"Whoooo! Would ya look at her?" Jyabura whoops, Kumadori and Fukuro on either side jumping up and down like children. The others gather at the railing, Kalifa and even Blueno smiling at the sight.

Rob Lucci however does not smile. But the easing of his eyebrows and cold expression could indicate he is content at the sight.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**A/N: Please give me criticism on this! Am I too wordy? Confusing any of you so far? If you're a writer yourself, you'll understand just how much that means to me. Please review!**

**CP9**

They dock the boat and the three less composed of the the group jump off, dancing on the ground of their homeland in glee. Before them is a forest with a huge tower in the distance, the dorms for the future generations of CP9. Blueno voices his thoughts aloud suddenly.

"I wonder if Kaku is here yet?"

At this Jyabura stops in his tracks along with the other two, turning to stare at him.

The wolf-man is the first to pipe up. "He better be, I'm gonna kick his ass for making me waste my time trying to find his sorry herbivore self when we could have been spotted any moment at Enies Lobby!"

Fukuro pipes up. "Jyabura's been moody lately because he's lonely!"

"I am not! We're better off without him anyway, I was strong enough to kick him into next week if I wanted." he grumbles.

"Enough." The bickering stops as they turn to Lucci expectantly. He strides forward, the cold expression back on his face. Muttering something about "Dumb monster cats." Jyabura and the rest follow like they always have.

From a distance they soon spot an open field and several rows of children punching in rhythm to the teacher's whistle.

Strong nostalgia grips every one of them. _"Train to become stronger than justice!"_ A line repeated constantly throughout the training in their childhood.

A feeling of foreboding washes over Jyabura suddenly, a sixth sense he's always possessed that is only sharpened by his wolf side. Sniffing the air he transforms to his half-beast and a low growl rips through his throat as he spots ships out on the water closing in on the island.

Jyabura's shock is quickly replaced with fury. "_Marines!"_ the group stiffens abruptly, a dangerous undercurrent of anger apparent.

"Those bastards got a lot of balls trying to start shit on _our_ island." he growls. The others silently agree with him.

Blueno speaks up, "What can you see?"

"Three, no six battleships. The one leading them looks like that Full Body guy."

"Well," they turn to see Lucci's legendary smirk, "Let's not keep them waiting."

God help the fools who dare set foot on their homeland.

**Hours Later**

The ships dock near the Candy Pirates' former ship. General Full Body stands aboard, scanning the tree line for any signs of life and awaiting his subordinate's report.

"Sir, the ship vessel appears to be empty and there are foot prints leading onto the mainland!"

Full Body nods in confirmation. "Yosh, all troops assemble! I want them captured or I'll have your asses in Impel Down faster than you can blink!"

The men scramble into formation and set off in hot pursuit of the criminals. It is only a few moments before they are greeted with the stuff of nightmares. Their skin break out in a cold sweat and several gulp audibly at the sight before them.

The CP9 are nothing remotely close to human as they appear before the luckless men in all their dark glory, black menacing silhouettes in their ability forms, like demonic beasts that stand upright.

An undercurrent of killing intent chokes the atmosphere, the soldiers on the point of hyperventilating and/or passing out. In disturbing unison the demons state: "**We won't let you disturb our home."**

With that they pounce on the men and screams and gunshots ripped through the air along with arcs of blood. Meanwhile General Full Body stood on deck, nonplussed at the carnage below.

"STOOOP!" he bellows. His troops and even the assassins pause in mid-blow.

"Former twenty-ninth generation CP9," he starts, the six glaring at him at the 'former', "I'm sure you are well aware of the sacrifices necessary in order to maintain justice, correct?" The members could feel something bad was going to happen here. With a leer, the man continues.

"You are traitors to the World Government. You have resisted arrest and are responsible due to your incompetence and insubordination for the failure of the capture of Nico Robin, a demon who could bring about the end of the world and a man who destroyed the blueprints to the legendary weapon in front of your very eyes! We can not afford to sit by and allow you to do as you please. You see this," he dramatically sweeps an arm in the direction of his battleships, "All of these ships? And please take note of the cannons. Tell me what do you notice about them?"

The group look and Full Body smirks at the shocked and infuriated looks upon their faces when they notice the elevation and angle they were aimed in.

Right at the training grounds where every inhabitant of the island is gathered for lessons.

"With a push of the button on this controller, every single one of these will fire once. It may not be a Buster Call, but I think we can agree the carnage will be very unpleasant all the same."

Suddenly the atmosphere seems to darken and Full Body doesn't even have time to react before Lucci, in his human-leopard form had him by the neck. He took one look at those eyes and drops the controller. None would blame the man for the urine that trickled down his leg if they were in his shoes.

**Government Intensive Care Unit**

In a hospital bed lay a figure vaguely comparable to a human form heavily wrapped in bandages and casts from head to toe, face swollen to the point that it was similar to a child's crude creation of a head made of clay.

Through the bandages one could just make out light purple hair.

The person's eyes are drawn to the sound of approaching footsteps and one of his underlings appear holding a Den Den Mushi.

"Whab isthit?" he manages to say.

"Its General Full Body with his report sir."

"Wull bren et ovuh hur!"

The man hurries to oblige.

"Repbort!" he demands. His face goes pale at the voice that responds.

"This is your former subordinate, Rob Lucci." In the background Spandam can hear cries of pain as they deal with the remaining marines.

**CP9**

The group stood around their leader holding pieces of Full Body passed out in his 'berry' form, the Den Den Mushi itself held in Blueno's other free hand as Lucci held the mouthpiece.

"Someday we shall return. And deal you a punishment that you would prefer death to for every soul of our home you have threatened, including the shame you have brought to our names."

**Spandam**

"Kacha." the line goes dead.

Spandam gapes in shock, unable to think. All that went through his mind was _I'm doomed, I'm doomed, I'm doomed!..._

"Well well, look what we have here."

Snapped out of his stupor Spandam looks up to be greeted by the sight of an old man with combed back gray hair with the back flowing free, a square jaw and a black toothbrush mustache and goatee. He wore a black suit with a peach undershirt and a white coat over it.

He lurches upright, pain forgotten.

"F-f-f-father!," the man sobs. "You have to help me, they're going to kill me! Please, they'll make me wish for death, they'll-"

Spandine cuts him off. "Calm down, what's all the fuss about?"

He informs him of Rob Lucci's warning and is outraged.

"How dare they think themselves so high and mighty as to threaten my own son! They are obviously the ones at fault!"

Spandam nods his head frantically in agreement. Both are sniveling cowards that enjoy to abuse their authority, and both came to the same conclusion:

"We will destroy CP9!"

**CP9**

The call ended, the former assassins taking Full Body's ship as their own and with one last glance at their homeland sail off to wherever fate will bring them. On shore a flower of friendship and gratitude sits, recently planted, and the group disappears into the sunset.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Kaku: During events after CP9 leaving Saint Poplar**

Kaku awakes to find himself laying on a futon and his chest bare except for a purple goop spread across his torso where his wounds are. Prodding it with a finger he assumes it has recently been applied. Smearing a little off he sees tiny, neat stitches. Wherever Kaku is, he assumes he is in good hands. Out of nowhere a switch raps him sharply on the knuckles.

"Ow!" he says more out of shock than pain.

"What chu doin' mahn? Chu knaw how long it tahke meh to patch chu up?" a voice using a strange accent scolds him.

He looks up and swirls greet his eyes. This startles him and backs up to realize an extremely short, old woman wearing huge swirly glasses hiding her eyes (and apparently doesn't know what personal space is) stood in front of him.

Her shockingly bright red hair ties back with a bone poking through to hold it together and a bone piercing in her nose. She's around four feet tall with exotic skin, bangles all up and down her arms, six pairs of dangly earrings with a necklace made out of bird skulls. To further add to this bizarre get-up all her nails are two inches long and painted in a zebra pattern with a yellow beanie hat, three different-colored stripes around the middle and a robe with diamond patterns on it.

"Good people tahke th' trubble tuh drag your dead ass here, an' chu go an' mess with my hard work. And ahm noht goonna puht up with anymore're yah starin' mahn."

Taking a minute to process her strange accent, he hurriedly apologizes. "I did not mean to madam. Where am I exactly, ja?"

She stares at him and then busts out laughing. "Hee hee hee!" she cackles, high pitched, causing the hairs to rise on the back of his neck though he doesn't show it.

"Well would'cha lissen to dis, talkin' like an' ol' mahn. Chu been ou' cold fo' days, thought chu was goonna die! Hee hee hee!"

"Days?" well he certainly felt ten times better than when he first arrived. "May I inquire as to who you are and where I am? I have lost all my memory pertaining to my life except for my own name yet I know how to do things I don't understand and remember information when circumstances call for it."

"My, my who c'n resist sucha charmah like yahself? Hee hee hee! I ahm Witch Doctor, Maruklen Wydra. And chu mahn, are on t' island Tiki-Tiki, an island on th' Grahnd Line. Any dis sound familyah?"

He furrows his brow in thought. "Not the island itself, but the Grand Line rings a bell, although I'm not even sure I was born on it... or even when."

"Prolly cooz of dat cut on youh head." she points.

Now that she mentions it, the same tingling sensation from the salve was on his right temple. He goes to touch it when what he has mistaken for a switch was actually a long, narrow bone again smacks his hand.

"I told cha naht ta mess wi' mah stooff!"

A demonic howl suddenly fills the air seeming to come from every direction, flowing forward, around and under at the same time like a stepping stone in a river. A cross between a freshly-skewered boar and a particularly vicious sea-king in heat, stirs the blood in Kaku's veins, a strange yet disturbingly familiar sense of blood lust filling his being.

"What was that?"

The fiesty woman pales considerably. "By th' Goddess... some fool's guhn an' 'tacked the capitol. None attacks the Holy Capital! Mus' beh some bloody pirates."

"Pirates?" a strange protective feeling arises in his chest and Kaku scrambles out of the covers noticing his hat and swords on a table next to a bubbling cauldron. He crams the cap onto his head and makes his way toward the door. The witch doctor sees this and begins to rant.

"Wha the bloo hell chu think chu doin? Sit youh ass back down fo' I do it fo' chu!"

She comes at him with a syringe of what he can only guess to be a sedative. Just as she was plunging it into his skin that same moment at the waterfall returns and without thinking-

"**Tekkai**!" the witch doctor can only gape as the needle bent in half and sent sparks off his skin when it skidded across.

"Wha in th'-, oi, youh goonna kill yaself mahn!"

"I have to help them! Its my...duty." he doesn't understand why he feels this way. He just knows... that he must.

Wydra just looks at him, and sighs dramatically. She points to his right towards a gargantuan tree towering hundreds of feet, possibly thousands over all the others where smoke can be seen along with the faint glimmer of fires rising.

"See tha' there? Tha's Muther Tree, th' capital holy city of Tiki-Tiki. This here islan's people are made up oof a boonch'a fool clans, always fightin' one nuther. Only place they don' go aftuh is Muther, she's the Goddess' vessel. Beh carfuhl, mahn."

"Thanky you! **Soru!"** Kaku stumbles as he appears several yards away in an instant but another explosion in the distance sends him off running.

"An' one more thing, boyo!," annoyed at the title, he turns to her, "Don' hesitate to take wha the Goddess offers chu!"

He nods in confirmation, a bit bemused, and sets off towards the capital. Not too long after a ragged once white rooster collapses next to the woman. She looks at it, the stare making the silence between the two awkward. Finally-

"Wha chu doin' moping? Jus' follohw th' splosions." she points a gnarled finger at the billowing black smoke in the distance. Chirping a thanks the cockerel shoots after Kaku leaving a cloud of dust behind.

"Younguns." she mutters.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Earlier that day...**

Muther, the capital Holy City and vessel of the Goddess herself. She sits in the island's center, majestic and beloved of its people, the only thing untouched by the ravages of clan wars. None know why there is a war to begin with, but the goal seems to be annihilation...or something like that. She is an ancient tree, believed present at the beginning of the world for what else could explain her current girth?

This city is the only place where the separate clans share marriage and friendship and even peace with one another up high in the mighty branches; to escape the fierce beasts below on the forest floor. Here refugees find sanctuary. Here is the only symbol that all clans respect and worship and if it comes to it, defend.

The sun is high in the sky, summing up the time to be just a bit before noon. A child is seen scampering among the exotic citizens and they watch her, bemused as she chases a monkey with a bizarre fruit in its paws.

"Gimme!" Mana screams at the pesky primate. It halts its flight long enough to stretch its face to a sickening degree and waggle a long tongue.

Mana huffs, wishing she was grown up already. Then all her problems would be solved! True the fruit wasn't her's to begin with. One of the refugees had dropped it and hungry, had claimed the fruit for herself. Her mother was still asleep after delivering Marna Ivory's twin sons late into the night, and not wanting to'die of hunger' ignored the fact that the cluster of grapes were swirly-textured and an obnoxious pink.

A rock strikes the monkey and it drops the goods with a shriek. Seeing her chance the toddler catches the fruit and starts cramming it fast as she can. Mama always complains that she eats too fast to tell if she even likes what she puts in her mouth. This time is no different as she plucks the last colorful sphere from its stem and drops it as her face turns a green color.

"Ewwwwww!"

"Hahaha, serves you right, midget!" Mana stops her gagging to stick her now bright pink tongue at her older brother, Heron. To any passerby it is obvious that they are related. The girl, around two years old, had the islanders' typical exotic skin and her mother's royal blue hair and golden eyes. Heron, aspiring to be a village chieftain, seven years old, with the same eyes but with his deceased father's ebony hair.

"Shuddap, Baka-Bird!"

"Make me, I'm not the one dumb enough to eat rotten fruit."

"Heron-nii's meanie!" she pouts adorably, drawing another laugh from the boy and a glower from the girl. Suddenly her face brightens.

"Ne, nii-san lesth go simmin!"

"Its swimming, Mana."

"Whaeva." she brushes him off, spotting her two best friends, Fuji and Salma and invites them along.

**Aboard the _Epitome_**

"What do you mean its _gone?"_ a woman, who would be considered beautiful if not for the sneer on her face glares at the unfortunate slave's cowering form. She continues, "Do you even know how hard it is to find a devil fruit on this God-forsaken ocean? That was supposed to be a present for my brother!"

The man snivels, and dares to look up just enough to see her knees. "F-forgive me, milady it was an accident-"

BANG! The slaves all freeze at the sight of the woman's infamous pistol. Two burly men take the corpse and carelessly toss it overboard like it was an every day thing.

But then again for a human being like Lady Valletta Larousse Filibuster, bloodshed out of boredom is not anything new.

"Milady! Milady Filibuster, our sources confirm that an island up ahead is the most likely place for your devil fruit to be!"

"Good." the maid shivers at her mistress's cold smile and silently mops up the pool of blood.

**Several Hours Later...**

The four arrive at the village center after Heron's chores were finished and the three make a beeline for a huge hollowed-out pool. Mana makes an impressive dive into the clear water...and starts to sink at an alarming rate. Fuji and Salma begin to scream and Heron spies his sister laying at the bottom of the pool, not making a single effort to swim to the surface.

"Mana!" he jumps in after her and struggles to haul her up.

_Why is she so heavy now?_ The air in her lungs is too stale and to both their despair releases it.

_Heron-nii, I can't move no more... why's it get'n dark?... _Her eyes drift close and he panics, the rush of adrenaline pushing them finally to the surface.

Meanwhile a crowd has gathered and a woman with blue hair and golden eyes runs to them.

"M-mother..." Heron gasps, tears threatening to overflow as Mana's body lays eerily still.

"How long has she been under?" the woman demands in her professional mode.

"It was only a few minutes! It was only a few... only a few..." he repeats the mantra steadily, salty liquid falling on the still girl's face in grief.

"Stop your crying and give her to me!" reluctantly he lets go of her, feeling even emptier without something to cling to.

Whisper opens her daughter's mouth and pushes breath into her lungs and performs CPR in a steady rhythm, pumping over and over, pausing for another breath when suddenly-

"Gagh!" Mana convulses, spewing what seems to be gallon after gallon of water from her lungs before the air could finally make its way inside.

Heron stares in disbelief at her miracle recovery before launching himself at her and shakes Mana roughly by the shoulders. "What in the Goddess' name is wrong with you? Are you so starved of attention you have to go and pull a stunt like that?"

"I-I dunno, I jus' c-couldn' move no more in the w-w-waaaaahhhh!" the child bursts into tears, finding the anger of those she loves directed at her always unbearable for some reason, even though she never cries if she can help it.

Immense guilt again washes over the boy and he holds her close, so tight that she has to stop crying in order to still breathe.

Whisper has an unreadable expression throughout the whole episode, confirming a niggling suspicion she'd had after tasting Mana's breath.

"Mana," they both turn to look at her, "Did you eat... a devil's fruit?"

The crowd overhears, exclamations and muttering spreading through like a ripple in a puddle.

"Whasth tha'?"

"A devil's fruit is a fruit only found on the oceans of the world. No one knows how many there are nor where they came from, and can grant any human who eats them a special ability. It comes with a price though as you have found out. The devil user becomes a Hammer: when in water your strength is leeched away and you literally sink like the word itself."

Unlike most children her age, the two-year old manages to at least vaguely grasp her mother's description. Heron on the other hand isn't quite as calm.

"You mean the whole reason she nearly _died_ was because I let her eat those grapes?" seriously, was this whole day dedicated to his own personal hell right now?

"Those grapes, you filthy _savages,_ were _my_ property!" startled, the villagers turn to see a woman dressed in expensive white robes with a diamond borderline. The most bizarre part about her though is the large bubble over her head.

But they aren't really concerned about this foreigner's fashion sense right now as all eyes are glued to the pistol she holds, cocked and pointing right at...Mana.

_How _dare_ that _thing_ devour her property? I am a descendent of royalty, of a King who helped found the World Government, the strongest power in the entire _World!_ This-this crime will not go unpunished. It is my birthright to pass judgment upon these _insects!

With these self-righteous thoughts in mind the World Noble had foolishly strode ahead of her marine guard of 300 Marines, believing them to not be far behind when really, they had been wiped out immediately between two of the island's most lethal clans' battles, poison clans.

In her infamous fury she narrows her eyes and pulls the trigger, a cold smirk on her face.

"Die."

"NO!" Whisper hurls herself in front of her children, the sound of the gunshot echoing in the paralyzed silence.

"...!"

"M-m-... MOMMY!"

The boy's desolate cry rebounds endlessly among the branches and buildings, and more voices join.

"_Blood has been spilled!"_

"_Blood, in the Holy City?"_

"_Blasphemer!"_

"_Blasphemer!"_

The people seem to finally settle on the simple word that described the situation the most. They chant the word, stomping their feet in rhythm to each syllable, likening the beat to war drums.

"_**Blas-phe-mer, blas-phe-mer, blas-phe-mer!" **_chants quickly over and over again.

The Noble seems to realize the danger she is in and flees. The mob however are not satisfied with just this and pursue the woman, releasing bloodcurdling war cries that seem to stir the branches as a mysterious wind whips them into a frenzy, even the Goddess' own fury evident.

**Review~!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

At the top of Muther Tree sits an elderly man. Never once has he spoken nor opened his eyes, didn't even have the manners to reveal his name, just like the grouchy predecessors before him. So the people simply call him and his clan "Watchers."

He watches for the one thing that the hundreds of years worth of his ancestors had watched for themselves to (however unlikely) occur. But it never has.

Despite the fact that his hair has long ago fallen out and wrinkly skin hangs from his jowls, the man's eyes shine like cut diamond as the wind whips the normally peaceful tree into a frenzy.

"So it has happened, Muther?" his voice is neither deep nor embarrassingly high. Actually, its quite an anti-climatic ordinary male voice, frail due to lack of use. But a Watcher does not need the distraction of such a thing when his senses must always be preserved to look for the moment when _it_ would occur.

He stands, knees literally knocking together. His time is close now, but he must perform his duty before giving himself to the Goddess' embrace.

Watcher teeters dangerously, trudging on like a man through quicksand to a long, hollow horn that might have once upon a time been pearly white. Now it is a sallow shade of yellow with even black creeping on the edges giving testament to its age.

Unsteady hands lift the feather-light object, longer than his own body by at least a thrice, and with the last of his strength releases a final breath of both body and soul into the horn's unearthly call.

Long did that breath last, reaching to the farthest corners, penetrating the deepest caves and to the forest's very roots, traveling over hill and mountain alike. A sonic wind, a demonic call to the people's own blood. Clansmen halted their death blows and war cries died immediately in their throats. As one every man, woman, child and beast turn to face Muther, expressionless except for the burning war lust in the people's eyes, bursting as would a volcano, the flames of war combusted into magma hotter than the mysterious hatred they have for each other.

As one they migrate to the holy city, a ring of warriors on all sides, chanting a single name: "MU-THER! MU-THER! MU-THER!..."

The horn falls from the dead man's hands, shattering after finally serving its long-awaited purpose.

XXXXXXXXXX

The woman runs, shooting at random and missing all together the mob hot on her heels hurling spears, food, rocks, mud, anything that can be thrown while remaining in the process of the hunt. They scream together as the horn released the Goddess' war cry, adding to the noble's terror as she sought her guards.

_Where the hell are they?_ Never had she been succumbed to such humiliation and fear. How the world would laugh and the other Nobles whisper behind their hands if they knew of such an embarrassment. Daddy might even cut her off from the family fortune!

_None can ever know of this._

She reaches into her robes and pulls out a Golden Den Den Mushi that she had managed to obtain through certain... connections. She manages to hit the button on its top before a spear skewers her through the void where her heart should technically be.

Meanwhile the Silver Den Den Mushi sends out the signal to the other Marine boats she had demanded for back-up for "In case they have rabies." General Pricks, the only captain among the several dozen boats freezes at the sound he believed he would only hear about in the form of rumors.

All look to him as his second approaches him in a daze.

"What shall we do... sir?"

Pricks bursts out laughing, causing every one of them to jump. "This is PERFECT! Do you underlings understand the significance behind this? A World Noble is relying on MY command to deal forth her judgment. I knew she fancied me, what woman wouldn't? And she's not too bad-looking herself..."

Behind his back the newer recruits curl their lips in disgust, unaware of the spies the Captain had among them to weed out any possible snitches to the higher-ups of his questionable priorities when it came to _his _version of justice.

His face suddenly clears and the rookies found they preferred the pompous cruelty to this subtle, sadistic character.

"Let the show begin."

"Sir, what of Lady Filibuster? Should we not ensure she is safely off the island?" only his second has the balls to question him.

Slowly and deliberately the man turns his neck like that of an owl to look the man straight in the eye, even his nerves folding under such a disturbing spectacle focusing solely 100% on him alone.

"And are you implying a World Noble would be careless, or dare I say, _stupid_ enough to activate a Buster Call when they are _STILL ON THE ISLAND?_" his voice raises to a roar, the hapless man bending backwards as he struggles not to fall over from the blast of foul-smelling breath as he manages to choke out a, "No sir!"

"Good." the manic smile is back. "Arm the cannons and encircle the island! I want no survivors!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Mana and her mother's body are the only visible signs of life in the town now. She huddles next to Whisper's still form shivering miserably as the dark wind combined with her wet clothing picks up in strength.

As advanced as she is the girl can only grasp so much. She just knows that Momma won't move and the red stuff pooled around her uncharacteristically pale form is bad, so bad that everyone went to chase the mean bubble-woman away.

She struggles not to cry, waiting for her brother to return with the mob. When they come back they'll fix Momma like she fixed them when they got sick.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of the horn still echoes throughout the forest as a lone figure jumps from treetop to treetop, gliding across the leafy roof like a mountain wind.

_I can hear it... the fury of this island..._ For some reason the head of a smiling lamb pops into his head and the sound of rushing water.

"_Please..." a young voice begs him as he stares at the... ship? _The images blur but he makes out the screaming of a young man as he releases the boat to the ocean.

"_MEEERRRRYYYYY!..."_

_That ship wanted to die at sea..._

"MU-THER! MU-THER! MU-THER!" the chant breaks him out of the déjà vu to his dismay, sucked back into a void he cannot penetrate.

Pausing, Kaku pokes his head through the canopy, vibrations shaking the tree as a stampede of warriors make their way to his destination.

"Muther..." the name rolls easily off of his lips.

Unknown to the assassin and tribesman several dozen battleships surround their island in a ring, spaced evenly apart and bristling with fully loaded cannons.

Captain Pricks slowly raises a hand for all the world as if he were God himself, passing judgment. He pauses, expression unreadable. With a swift chop he seals the island's fate and the boom and whistle of cannon fire fills the air, drowning out the remains of the lingering war horn's cry.

XXXXXXXXXX

The forest, for once empty of the sound of warfare remains eerily silent despite the abundance of beasts. Finally, a small rodent emerges boldly from its den and scampers to a discarded bag of nuts by one of the tribesmen, poking its head within, unaware of the reptilian feline waiting to pounce in the shadows. Slowly it edges forward, mouth hanging open and drool drips from its fang. Its legs tighten in anticipation and leaps forward, the prey facing it, frozen. Its protruding claws connect with its throat when-

"**KABOOOOOOOM!" **the world explodes.

Hundreds of deadly projectiles rain like fire upon the exotic jungle, setting alight vegetation and villages, wrenching trees from the earth, crumbling mountains and boulders.

A moment of silence before the next wave hits, then another close behind. Over and over and over again, 'justice' is bestowed upon the unsuspecting island.

XXXXXXXXXX

A faint boom and whistling reaches Kaku's ears and he turns around without stopping. Out in the water he can make out several pillars releasing faint puffs of black smoke, each one adding to the whistle and boom. His eyes widen exponentially in horror.

"Holy-! There's dozens of those pirate ships!"

A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach is present as he watches the black specks slowly descend upon the island. Facing forward he's startled to see more black specks farther off in the distance, a great many focused on Muther.

_DAMMIT! __**SORU! SORUSORUSORUSORUSORUSORU... **_He accelerates toward the city, the main bridge coming into view. He lands on the structure, not swaying in the least as it was made completely out of wood instead of vines like the others. Triumphant he goes to leap over the gates guarding the entrance. He crouches down and- the bombardment connects, the impact throwing the gates open and Kaku soaring in the opposite direction.

His head smashes into a rail post, smearing off the medicinal salve. Clutching his head in agony he makes out the large doors, barely hanging onto their hinges.

The crackling flames, explosions, doors and swiftly darkening sky fade away. Instead of losing consciousness the blur of colors are replaced with new shapes.

_Kaku strides forward, on his left is the presence of two people. They speak but he can't make out what they say. One is a woman's and the other... well it was strangely high-pitched and possibly male, whom he felt he was following. They stop and he looks up. Towering over are huge steel doors, a large, red "1" painted down the middle of them. The man on his left steps forward but he didn't look at him in the memory so he can't make anything out to his frustration. With one hand he pushes them open without any visible effort. _

_Kaku shields his eyes from the sudden sunlight, his nose assaulted by the scent of metal and sawed woods and tar. He opens his big black eyes to be greeted by-_

A wave of heat washes over him. He snaps out of it, the world slowly coming back into focus. The sky is clouded completely with smoke making it appear as if night was approaching already. Finding his cap and swords still on his person he stumbles forward.

XXXXXXXXXX

"No..." she whispers. This isn't happening. All around her, her beloved home is engulfed with flame, leaves falling like rain, most on fire.

"Momma! Momma! Get up! Help me, help me Momma!" she shakes Whisper to no avail, coughing as the smoke fills the air, hiding the destruction from sight. Branches that were once the first to touch the beams of morning sun when the day began and the last to hold the light as evening bled into night wither and crumble to ash, some of the limbs breaking and crashing to the city below, feeding both flame and destruction.

A circular shadow grabs Mana's attention. Her head snaps up and to her horror a cannonball descends upon her and Whisper. She throws herself over her mother's body, hands raised to fend off the inevitable.

Eyes tightly shut she doesn't notice as several pale spots cover her body, two large ones on her palms. The cannonball explodes... and is absorbed into the two circles. They darken slightly and then the circles disappear. Mana finally opens her eyes, confused when the eruption hadn't done anything but make her ears hurt.

Something latches onto her arm. Mana screams only to turn and face her mother, blood dribbling from the corners of her mouth. Whisper smiles.

"Ma...na. Here..." she takes off a necklace Mana never noticed before. On it are two rings: her mother's wedding ring along with the father's that she had never known.

She presses the precious item into her hand and cups her cheek lovingly

"Remember this well, Mana. This was never your fault." Her eyes slowly drift closed and her arm falls limp.

A figure emerges out of the smoke panting heavily. "Mana!" Heron gasps.

The child doesn't even look at him as she watches Whisper's chest still and her face relax as if she was sleeping.

In a trance she slowly reaches forward to touch her, shake her, anything to open her eyes again. Heron grabs her and she snaps.

"There's nothing you can do!" he yells at her. But Mana can't comprehend him, she just screams, reaching out pathetically to her mother. Tears pour from both their eyes although Heron tries to hide them as he turns away.

Clutching her close he stumbles forward trying to escape the smoke, explosions mere feet from them not deterring the boy in the least. The pair stumble out of the square onto the main street, food stalls lining either side but lacking the cheerful voices of barter and conversation.

Her brother topples forward with no warning.

"Ah!" Mana cries out in surprise. She squirms from underneath him, her eyes wide and streaming. A gash on the back of his leg is bleeding at an alarming rate and her gut twists when she can see bone. His tan skin is a sickly pale like Whisper's was and his breath comes in short gasps.

He mutters something unintelligible in his delirium, his open eyes showing nothing but the whites.

The little girl can only watch in despair, wrapped in a ball rocking back and forth, watching as he slowly bleeds to death in front of her like Whisper.

More cannonballs descend on them and fire closes in but as soon as they make contact the girl absorbs them into the many dots on her skin. They glow brighter with every impact they absorb. However she doesn't even notice through the tears blinding her vision.

Finally the air is silent and a world of ash is all that remains.

Maruklen emerges from a cave to gaze at the apocalyptic wasteland.

**Night**

"Surround the area, I don't want any of them escaping or I'll have your asses in Impel Down faster then you can blink!" The men grab their guns and rush forward, the threat heavy on their minds as Pricks marches inland with them, ready to wipe out any survivors.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kaku somehow manages to survive although in his state he can't quite remember how. Muther's branches are burned clean away, leaving nubs all over the barren trunk charred to the point that it resembles a black pillar, the only thing still standing on the island.

He wades through the ashes that were once buildings and goods, searching for any pirates or survivors. Just any sign of life. Flashes of memory still haunt him, always ending at the doors just as he is about to open his eyes, or the roofs that he glided over in the water city.

Emotions bombard him as he trudges along.

_Security. Warmth. Light. Happiness._ But then images of burning and men screaming and the scent of blood invade the pleasant memories.

_Another man is screaming at him, his face a blur but with a pair of broken orange goggles are on a head of blonde hair. For some reason he's crying. But there's a thing in the middle of the room, growing larger and partially shielding the man from view. _

_He says something. "...NAKAMA!" is all Kaku can make out. The beast responds to him in a voice that gave Kaku chills. _

_Coldness. Determination. Battle lust. Defeat. **Regret**_...

He clutches his chest at the last two, feeling as if his wounds had been reopened as more of that city flashes through his mind, but with the feeling that it was never his. Could never be his. And he hated that, wished that if anything he could ever have in this world it would be that place and the warmth it gave him. The light. Kaku has a feeling he was unable to keep a thing like light in his life for long.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mana stares into oblivion. Or more accurately her brother's dead eyes. She'd long ago given up trying to wake him and just sat here. Waiting. All around her are craters, the spot she and her brother occupies is the only one untouched.

"Managed to survive eh?" A voice sneers, startlingly similar to that woman's condescending tone.

Mana glares at him defiantly as he strides forward, stirring the ash and skirting around the craters. To her fury he casually kicks Heron's corpse away.

"NO!" she goes after him, only to be wrenched upwards by her hair and freezes when a knife is pressed against her throat.

"Good bye, savage- gagh!" the soldiers panic as a spear appears out of thin air and skewered the man, much in the same fashion as Lady Filibuster, only with such force that it plowed right through him into the men in front of him, killing two more.

Unnerved the men raise their guns and point in random directions.

"Who's out there?"

"Bastards, attacking a marine is a crime!"

"Please, don't kill us we were only following orders."

A black figure appears in the middle of the pandemonium, standing over the girl.

"Oi, look!"

"Its a demon!"

"Kill it!"

Mana is scooped up into a pair of strong arms and the creature curls its body around her.

"**Tekkai!"**

Gunshots fill the air.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**A/N: I do not own Avatar (the one with blue people) so don't sue! I'm freaking poor! And the movie was freaking EPIC.**

Despite the aches and pains Kaku's senses still remain alert as he hears the approach of several men. He hides in the shadows, smearing his face, hair and upper torso with ash to better blend in.

He does not have to wait long before a large group of white and blue clad men appear. His instincts, or whatever they were, immediately identified the leader and the strongest members. He places a hand on his swords, a thumb starting to edge a bit of steel out of its sheath.

_No_. Somehow he knew that these men are not the enemy. Not pirates. But then, what did one look like? At the same time he did not wish to reveal his presence quite yet. After several minutes he follows them stealthily.

He catches up to them, still hidden. They surround something.

_Survivors?_ He silently hopes. However he is shocked when the Captain kicks aside a dead boy right in front of a toddler that bore a strong resemblance to him.

"NO!" she screams. She leaps after him, and viciously snatched up by her long hair and he prepares to slit her throat.

His hands clenches in the ash and his knuckles scrape against something. Not letting his eyes leave Pricks, he picks up the object.

A spear.

"Good bye savage- GAGH!" Kaku hurled the spear as hard as he could, uncaring of how it skewered through two other men along with the Captain from the amount of force behind it.

"**Soru."**

The men, already panicked, don't take well to a black figure appearing in the middle of the night on a dead island.

He snatches the girl up and curls around her protectively.

"**Tekkai."** his body becomes incredibly stiff and muscles underneath flex unbelievably taut with no visible strain on the outside. The bullets bounce off him harmlessly, clinking like they were shooting at steel.

The men gape in shock.

Suddenly the clouds clear to reveal the area around them in clarity.

"What the hell? Its just one man!"

"Tell me," Kaku begins, his voice disturbingly cold, like a certain leopard's, "What is your quarrel with this child?" Without waiting for an answer he plows on, although the men are too intimidated to answer either way. "Better yet, why aren't you instead attacking the pirates who destroyed this island?"

They are perfectly logical questions but for some reason the men were staring at him like he was an idiot, their fear gone.

Lieutenant Rovest, the former Captain Pricks' second in command, laughs incredulously. "What do you mean pirates? What you have witnessed here is none other than a Buster Call, courtesy of the Marines of the World Government!"

_No_. Something about this didn't sit right with Kaku.

_Marines were... they are supposed to protect people right? That's the impression I had had earlier. The same thing about this World Government. If pirates are scum, then what about _them?

Lost in his thoughts he looks down at the small bundle in his arms and his breath catches in his throat. Her eyes, molten gold, seem to glow, burn with a fire completely without fear, just screaming _"I want to live!"_ A demon with nine swords and green hair comes to mind, whether from a nightmare or memory he cannot tell.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Rovest charges forward with a war cry, sword descending in an attempt to decapitate his head.

In a daze, time slows as he effortlessly dodges the blow, pulling his arm back, his hand curling inward, fingers bending and becoming incredibly stiff. In an instant the hand plunges forward into the man's chest.

"**Shigan..."** he pulls his fingers out, the blood dripping from them as the Lieutenant's corpse falls to the ground, dead.

The subordinates lose their nerve and panic ensues.

"Look at him, its like he was shot!"

"He killed him!"

"Bastard, don't think you'll get away with this!"

They once again aim their guns and prepare to shoot. Suddenly two swords are in Kaku's hands and he leaps forward, dashing through the crowd and expertly slashing left and right.

Mana stares at him where he had set her down, or at least when she can catch bare glimpses of his black-clad body as the marines fall like flies.

Out of the corner of his eye Kaku spots a sniper aiming for the girl. He moves as if to perform **soru** but then his body jumps and twists in the air and he kicks out one of his legs, thrusting as if he could stomp out the man, feeling his leg kick in a speed invisible to the human eye.

"**Rankyaku 'Sen!'"** a blast of air shoots at the man and through his torso leaving a hole equivalent to the size of his foot.

Despite himself Kaku finds himself smiling at the rush of battle and letting instinct take over performs many more of these **rankyakus** in every direction.

Finally he stops and stood there not even panting, marveling at his strength. A shuffling snaps his attention back to the girl who's eyes seem to hold him in a trance. The smile falls from his and he cleans the blood off his blades before sheathing them.

Mana stares at him, not knowing what to think. She feels drawn to him yet wary at the same time. He walks up her and she stares at him with big eyes.

He crouches down to her level and stares back with his own big, black eyes.

Her eyes suck him in as if they can see into his very soul. Leaning closer his nose bumps into her forehead. For the first time she finally giggles again. His breath catches in his throat. Her smile brings a million different pictures and feelings he doesn't understand.

_A city of water roads surrounded by golden sunlight. A pure blue sky, plunging from a perilous height to the houses below with elation and the amazing sensation of flying. People whose faces and voices he can't quite make out, one of them wearing orange goggles and doing something with rope, the man from the gate hallucination._

_A place where he felt love, freedom and warmth. And a feeling of almost unbearable pain and regret because he couldn't have it._

He found himself clutching the toddler close as the last part washes over him, soothing the aches that had emerged at the gate.

"Mine." he whispers into her hair.

"_An' one more thing, boyo! Don' hesitate to take wha the Goddess offers chu!"_ Maruklen's words ring in his head.

_Light..._ the one thing he wants more than any other. He may not be able to remember how to find that other one but here this girl is. Beggars can't be choosers.

"Birubirubirubiru. Birubirubirubiru." head snapping up Kaku spots Pricks' pocket vibrating. Rummaging through it he finds a bulky snail with some sort of contraption attached to it. The receiver falls from its back and he picks it up.

"Kacha."

"Moshi moshi?" a voice says.

Kaku nearly drops it out of surprise. "Moshi moshi? Sir, are you there? The search parties A-P have found no trace of survivors throughout the entire island. What are your orders sir?"

Kaku licks his lips and hopes his memory serves him well, ironic as that wish is.

"This is your Captain here, marine." He winces, his impersonation a little too high-pitched. He clears his throat and tries again, deeper this time.

"Nothing here either. Its dark out, we can search more tomorrow. Return to the ships."

"Yes sir!"

"Kacha." he hangs up the Den Den Mushi.

_That won't fool them for long._ With this thought in mind he tries to retrace his steps back to Maruklen's hut. A woman like her doesn't seem the type to die so easily.

After several minutes of acceleration, being careful not to jostle the precious child in his arms, he runs into another survivor of the island.

"Blegh! Get off my face dammit!" he spits out a mouthful of feathers as the fowl clutches to his shoulder at the break-neck speed.

He just chirps angrily in Kaku's ear.

XXXXXXXXXX

They finally arrive at the destination. Or at least Kaku is pretty sure. The rooster seems to sense his doubt though as it gives him a condescending look. Kaku glares right back at the thing. He would have wrung its scrawny neck by now if his arms weren't occupied at the moment.

Mana stirs in his arms and he freezes along with the cockerel. She mumbles something in her sleep and snuggles into his chest, burying her face in his throat.

While he retains his cool on the outside, inside Kaku is trying not to spazz. Even without the memory he's pretty damn sure that he's never taken care of a child.

"So this where chu got to, eh boyo?" says a voice right behind him. Startled he whips around, instantly shifting the girl to one arm as he points a katana at Maruklen.

"Heeheehee! Jumpy one, aren'tcha boyo?"

"My name is Kaku, ma'am."

"Whatevah. I see chu took mah advice ovuh youh dumb commun senses."

She gestures at the girl.

"How do you- Never mind. We need to get off the island-"

"_You_ need to get off da islan'. I dohn't. Muther still lives, an' through her th' Goddess. I got sometin' to 'elp chu three gets away but I need th' girl for a momen'."

"Why?" he unconsciously holds her protectively. Maruklen doesn't fail to notice either.

"Thi' girl didn' survive by pure dumb loock, boyo. She is blessed by th' Goddess, an' besides meh is th' last of her people. Her mother is dead an' th' islan' mus' have a Priestess."

"Priestess?" Maruklen turns without another word and with no other choice Kaku follows her. They come to a low cave entrance that even the tiny woman has to duck through. They rapidly descend, the ceiling higher with every step to Kaku's relief. A bluish-white glow fills the tunnel, emanating from what appear to be roots clinging to the walls. Something brushes against his ear and without thinking grabs it.

Maruklen who leads the way stops and glares at him.

"What?" she looks pointedly at his fist. He opens it up and is astounded to see a bio luminescent creature similar to an airborne jellyfish.

"Tha', boyo, is an Atokirina', or Woodsprite. Don'chu go messin' wi' them, they sacred children of de Goddess."

Suddenly they are all around them, and Kaku freezes when he tries to shoo them away, Wydra's glare smoldering. The seeds settle all over his body and the girl's, seeming to glow brighter, just a breath from touching his skin.

With a wave of her hand, Maruklen sends the seeds away, apparently satisfied by the creatures' display of affection.

Several twists and turns later they emerge into an immense cavern with a huge hole in the roof, letting in enough moonlight to feed the largest, glowing weeping willow on the island. It towered over them, thick glowing strands hanging off her branches.

He doesn't know how a tree can give off a feminine feel, but this one manages to pull it off.

"Behold. Eywa, the Goddess' soul."

"I thought Muther was your Goddess' vessel."

"She IS th' Goddess' vessel, or her physical one at leas'. Thi' though is her soul. Bring th' child ovah here." Maruklen motions to spot at the base of the tree empty of roots and covered in a soft, thick moss, almost like a mattress.

Reluctantly Kaku lays the girl's slumbering form on the ground.

He backs up as the witch doctor starts to smear a glowing paste in various swirls and patterns on the child's skin, sharply contrasting with the exotic shade.

Finished, she removes her glasses and slowly tilts her head back. Her back facing to Kaku, he does not see her eyes, empty of all color. The milky white of the blind.

She rotates her head as her arms weave through the air, chanting something.

"_Eywa Eywa Eywa, Eywa Eywa Eywa..." _The tree, _Goddess_, he corrects himself, stirs in an unseen breeze.

Wydra's chanting picks up in speed, her arms thrashing about like branches in a stormy wind.

Bit by bit, tiny, thread-like roots creep over Mana's body, climbing into her mouth, eyes and ears although the child shows no signs of actual pain.

"_EywaEywaEywaEywaEywaEyw-" _the woman freezes in mid-chant.

She gazes down at the child and watches as the ceremonial, glowing paint is absorbed into the toddler's skin, painting her body in faint white tattoos with no color like a scar's.

"The Goddess has acknowledged her. Almos' lost 'er fer a minute. Th' journeh through Eywa's soul tain't an ezzy one."

"You mean she could have died?" for once the formality is gone from his voice.

"Heeheehee! I told you boyo, thi' girl ain't no average one. I'm still pretty good at gambling after all." she mutters the last part under her breath.

"What was that, ma'am?" his voice dangerously low.

"Heeheehee, neva you mind boyo! Take your brat an' go now." she points her long finger back down the tunnel.

"But-"

"No buts! I've got to get workin', Muther ain't goin' to last at thi' rate."

"Which way is to the nearest island? And how will we even get there without any transportation?"

"A boat an' Log Pose, boyo."

They stand there. Staring. Kaku monumentally struggles not to let his eye twitch, not wanting to give the woman the satisfaction of knowing how much she's really pissing him off now.

"Will you please give me a boat and Log Pose."

"Sure." Cue sweatdrop.

She sweeps her arm outward and he follows it to a river behind the tree with a small ship for ten people, max, next to it.

"In it you'll find an Eternal Pose, pointin' to Mechalyne Islan'. They migh' be able to fix tha' head of youhs. If you don' die, you'll ge' there in... oh 'bout a week or two. Now go!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**A/N: I don't own Lala's Lullaby from D Gray Man!**

Several days have passed uneventfully. The girl, Mana he learns, just leans over the railing staring at nothing in particular. He can roughly guess her to be at least two years old if her height and vocabulary are anything to go by.

Shouldn't children be louder? Or smile more? After what she had been through, he can't really blame her. But being so young she will most likely forget about it, maybe visited by a rare nightmare of the occasion. He remembers the first night on that boat.

**Nine Days Ago, Night**

**Kaku POV**

I lay the girl down as gently as I can, afraid I would wake her. Her breathing doesn't change in the least as I tuck the covers around her and with one last glance close the door, leaving the rooster to sleep with her.

I hop off the deck and notice that Maruklen-san is gone. And that Eywa is dimmer than before.

_It's not my concern._ With that I untie the boat and with minimal effort send the it into the rapid waters. I jump aboard and look around. Suddenly it hits me: _Do I even remember how to run a boat?_

Looking around frantically, as if someone or something that knows about boat... stuff will appear out of nowhere and help me. I snort contemptuously at such a juvenile fancy.

"Well, it can't be that hard right? I just..." Do what exactly? Thinking back to the fight earlier, I would imagine that I just follow my instincts like before.

_Alright, so just close my eyes and think of nothing._ For some reason I expected a snide comment on this, even though its in my own head. The thought also brings back that rooster. Maybe it belongs to someone I knew that was vastly annoying? If so, I can conclude I am not missing out on much with this amnesia.

Apparently my fear is unfounded as I arrive in the steering room, only to find a mechanism steering the boat with what I assume to be the Log Pose embedded in the middle.

The adrenaline rush leaves my body twitching. To calm my nerves I head below deck, surveying the surroundings of the small vessel. A pantry/storage room connects to the kitchen. Descending through a trap door I find another set of living quarters set aside for if two genders were upon the boat. Leading out of the kitchen is a small living room, and two doors. One leads outside while the other to the bathroom.

With nothing better to do I ascend the ladder back up to Mana-san's room to check on her. I reach her bed and move to brush the hair out of her face. But the texture is wrong. It feels more like feathers...

I rip the covers back and the rooster chirps at me angrily. I ignore it and dash to the deck, fearing the child might fall off the ship.

"Where are you?" I look around the cabin, and under barrels and sacks to no avail.

A breeze caresses my face and I freeze, finally noticing the boat is out in the open. And approaching a marine ship.

"_Dammit!" _I run back to the steering room and try to turn the boat around but nothing happens as I check through the window. The best I can do is alter its course to where we will go around the boat instead of crashing head-on.

I hold my breath the closer we get, swords drawn without even thinking about it.

"Chirp!" the bloody rooster appears out of nowhere. Some sort of sticky substance covers its head and I snicker.

"Serves you right!" I whisper.

I watch it for another moment or two, laughing as he literally runs around in circles.

It was funny until the damn thing ran into a stack of crates.

_**CRASH!**_

I wince. Apparently many breakable items were in there.

The sudden sound does not go unnoticed and before I can blink we're surrounded and my eyes stream as they struggle to accommodate to the search lights in my face. My heart sinks as I hear the sound of cocked pistols and cannons being loaded. I prepare to abandon ship as soon as I locate the girl.

_Dammit, where is she?_ I don't have to look long.

**Mana**

She awoke from the most beautiful dream in her entire life. Mana feels different, as if the world and its secrets dance on the very edge of sight, neither out of her reach nor in it. The room is pitch black but she sees everything in a silvery haze from the inner light in her eyes.

There is a presence inside her, and the person is sad. So sad that her tears pour through Mana's. The room is suddenly too confined for the toddler and she runs out, a gentle breeze caressing her skin, its voice in a whispering language she can't comprehend tickles her ears.

But it makes her feel light and airy.

"_Higher," _it says, "_Freedom."_ the child can do nothing but obey as she climbs up to the crow's nest.

The presence, a woman she realizes, makes her yearning known and Mana complies to look back on what should be her home. Instead she sees a barren, black wasteland with Muther in the distance, nothing but an overgrown stick stuck in the ground.

But Mana can see, no, sense is the better word, Muther and the Goddess' soul. She understands yet doesn't what has happened, like when Momma tells her something grown up. She hears the words, but she doesn't _comprehend_ their description.

A disturbance below has the girl leaning dangerously over the railing to stare at a man dressed all in black and wearing a cap dash around the deck, looking for something. She tries not to giggle, enjoying the now game of hide-and-seek.

He stops all of a sudden and looks around then disappears out of sight. The boat starts to turn and Mana realizes a ship the size of a mountain is in front of them. She sees through the steel and wood several silvery specks, but doesn't understand that they are souls.

At the sight of them she feels a deep sadness, of pity for these people and their sins upon the island.

The man appears again and then a rooster knocks over a crate.

_**Crash!**_

The sun seems to appear out of nowhere and Mana ducks her head, eyes clamped shut in agony, now overly-sensitive to bright light.

She can sense a negative red aura around her, and in response the tattoos on her body begin to glow a silver-white, her golden eyes paling yet deepening at the same time.

They open, immune to the pain now. The red is deepening, tainting the pretty silver people to an ugly scarlet. She yearns to heal them of their plight. This darkness does not belong. The events of today from all points of view pour into her, and she understands the story Eywa wishes to tell. Shining brilliantly like a star, Mana sucks in a deep breath and voices the Goddess' pain, the island's story of death in the only way possible: Through the songs.

"_Lacrimosa dies illa_

_** (Tearful was that day)**_

_Qua resurget ex favilla_

_ **(From which the ashes will rise)**_

_Judicandus homo reus_

_ **(The guilty man is condemned)**_

_Huic ergo parce, Dea,_

_ **(So have mercy on him, Goddess,)**_

_Pius matris carissimae..._

_ **(Compassionate Dear Mother...)**_

_Judicandus homo reus_

_ **(The guilty man is condemned)**_

_Huic ergo parce, Dea,_

_ **(So have mercy on him, Goddess,)**_

_Pius matris carissimae_

_ **(Compassionate Dear Mother,)**_

_Latet eos quod erant..."_

_** (They know not what they were...)**_

Silent tears fall from the men's cheeks, too stunned by the pure, beautiful melody, piercing to their very souls. They do and do not understand yet their hearts pain, and the sight of the once-island brings them immense guilt.

One by one the search lights are turned off. One by one the men head back inside to contemplate their troubled souls. The boat passes them with no more resistance and the new captain doesn't even bother to watch in which direction Kaku and the young Priestess head to.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**A/N: WARNING! MAJOR FLUFF! He's only so hesitant because of the loss of memory, thus he's not as professional as before.**

"Ouch! Damn it all to-" the curse dies in his throat when he notices Mana staring up at him.

An awkward pause ensues.

_Shit, she isn't supposed to hear this kind of language!_

"...So..." Kaku begins.

**S T A R E**

He sweatdrops at the silence. She still barely speaks to him. Mana looks at his hand then back at him.

The attention to said limb brings back the pain. Even after nearly two weeks, cooking is and probably never will be, one of his strong suits.

"Oh this? Its just a little burn. Nothing to worry about, hahaha- Huh?" She tugs on his pants and points at his hand.

Seeing a chance to bond with her, he obeys. She holds his hand between her two and is mesmerized by how small she is compared to him, finding it endearing. She leans forward and places a kiss on the angry red mark and then smiles, letting go.

Kaku blushes at the gesture, experiencing a not unpleasant, squeamish feeling in his stomach.

"All betta now!" she chirps and finally smiles at him.

At a loss of words he can only marvel at how her smile seems to light up the entire room like the sun.

"Thank you..." is all he can choke out.

"Ewwwwww." her face scrunches up.

"What?" He turns around.

"OH SHI-," he glances back at the child, "Erm, crap!" a dark, noxious smoke emanates from the charcoal-ed remains of what was to be their breakfast.

Kaku scrambles to turn off the burner and sighs in defeat, dumping the pathetic pancake remains in the trash can.

_Oh well, I'm pretty sure pancakes aren't supposed to have eggshells in them anyways._

"How about some fruit for breakfast instead, Mana-san?"

The child freezes, paling considerably. To his horror her eyes start to tear up.

"W-wait, if you don't want any then we can-"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" big, fat tears burst forth. He's down on his knees, hands hovering over the girl, unsure of what to do exactly.

"Don't cry, please don't cry! Hey, you don't have to eat the fruit-"

"**AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAA!"** he flinches as her screaming picks up in pitch.

_Note to self, _never_ say fruit again._

"Mana-chan, let's play a game. Umm... Look at this!" in an act of desperation the once proud and reserved swordsman grabs his ears and stretches them painfully, waggling his tongue like a snake and rolling his eyes.

"AAAAaaaaahhh..." she finally looks at him, her face still pretty despite the tears.

"Yesth, lurk at the foony face!"

_I'm starting to talk like that witch... _

"Ahhh aaa...ah- HIC!" she smiles despite herself

"Now, isn't that better? Here, let's get you cleaned up..." he rummages through the drawers until he comes across a few towels and washrags.

He lathers it with soapy warm water and hesitantly wipes the girl's face. Mana sniffles quietly, her eyes scrunched to avoid getting soap in them.

"HICCUP!" the sound startles them both. Her face is an adorable mix of utter confusion and surprise and despite himself Kaku starts to laugh uncontrollably.

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

Mana smiles herself, liking the way Kaku's grin and laughter reminded her of bright yellow flowers.

"Hahahah- HIC!" he stops, startled this time.

Mana's cheeks begin to puff out as she tries not to laugh.

"Pfft... hehehehehehehehe-HIC!"

"HIC!" Kaku returns.

They both laugh like idiots.

After the morning's fiasco Kaku sits in the crow's nest, scanning for the island. It's been eleven days so far with nothing but clouds, water and random storms but no land. They still have enough supplies for another a week but after that...

Sighing, he leaps down, landing without a sound. Mana was waiting for him, and he recognizes the droopy expression as it being time for her nap.

Kaku realizes he's grinning like a fool when he recalls breakfast and that strange, squeamish feeling was there again as she yawns and her eyes turn to liquid butterscotch as she holds up her arms, wanting to be picked up. He happily obliges, holding her close like the first time they met.

She snuggles into him and slowly falls asleep and Kaku doesn't even dare to breathe.

A serenity fills him as he watches her slumber.

Then a familiar flapping of wings and weight on his shoulder spoils the moment. He doesn't even bother to look at the bird, whom Mana had dubbed Flint.

"What do you want now, feather brain?"

"Chirp! Chirp chirp chirp!"

"Shhh! You'll wake her u- OW!" the damn thing pecked his ear!

He whips his head around to glare at the pain in the ass, his nose unintentionally smacking it off his shoulder, although Kaku doesn't mind the sting it brings.

"That'll teach you not to be such a-" he stops in mid-sentence, stunned at the shadowy mass in the distance.

"Is that...!"

"Chirp." Flint confirms.

"Kaku..." Kaku breaks out of his shock only to freeze as Mana says his name for the first time. Coming from her sweet, rosy lips she makes it sound like the most beautiful name in the world.

He gulps audibly, "Y-yes, Mana?"

The child smiles and grabs his nose, giggling. He tries not to mind although the appendage is annoyingly sensitive to pain as he'd found out one night when the damn feather pillow had wanted Kaku to get him a drink.

"Wa' that?" she points.

"That, Mana, is Mechalyne island."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_Wow..._ is the first thing that comes to Kaku's mind as Mechalyne Island becomes more distinct. Tall skyscrapers of odd yet graceful architecture give off an obviously advanced and futuristic feel. Glass seems to make up most of them, held together by a fragile wire frame bellying the strength of the triple-reinforced nature of the structures like a spider's web. The islanders all wore clingy but comfortable-looking clothing with the strangest accessories consisting of scarfs that literally glow different colors depending on a mood, or bracelets that don't actually touch the skin but float on it.

Even with the lack of memory he can tell this is probably one of the most amazing things he's ever seen.

The sunlight reflects sharply off the glass and metal, which explains why the natives were all wearing sunglasses. Kaku squints as the rays hit an angle directed at them.

Mana cries out suddenly, struggling to burrow under his jacket.

"Light!" she howls.

Kaku quickly faces away from it, using his body to shadow her sight. She looks at him, eyes dazed and face scrunched up. He automatically tugs on his cap and pauses.

After a moment of consideration he suddenly crams the hat onto her head.

"Huh?" she tentatively strokes the supple black fabric, loving how it felt.

"Take good care of that. Its a favorite of mine, ne?" he pokes her in the forehead for good measure.

"Hai!" she rubs the spot and smiles, grateful to finally see properly again. Its just when light is reflected in her eyes without some form of shadowing that it bothers her.

Of course the hat's a little big on her but it just makes her look... cute. Again, the flutter feeling.

_Everything about her throws me off balance. She's more of a liability than anything... but makes life look less bleak to me... have I always been so numb?_

He turns back to marvel the sight as does Mana, who gapes now that she can make everything out.

"...Pretteh!"

Kaku laughs at her baby talk.

**Late Afternoon**

The boat approaches the docks... or whatever they can call them. Instead of other vessels floating in the water and tied to wooden posts they hover with a large white disc underneath, keeping them airborne somehow.

A flash of red catches Kaku's sharp eyes, and his ears strains to make out a faint whirring. The faint sound fades in and out to his irritation and he strains harder to hear it. Mana gasps as his ears suddenly morph into long giraffe ears with brown spots. Distracted he turns back to her with a "What?"

She just gapes at his head and he self-consciously goes to pull down on his cap that is no longer there to his disappointment. He settles for pushing his hair back, only to brush against one of the long appendages.

"Ah!" he grabs it. He feels along the strange thing. His expression is unreadable as he pulls it into his eyesight and simply stares at it.

And stares at it. And because he has nothing else to do, stares at it some more.

"What. The. Hell?" he says slowly.

"**Greetings, Sir Human."**

Kaku whips around and before the source of the strange voice can blink its pinned to the deck, two swords digging into its 'throat' and glitching due to the terrifying lack of humanity in the cold gaze he is currently giving it.

"**P-p-please, Sir Human, one is only trying t-t-to assist y-you!****"** its metronome voice emits from a square in its face where a human mouth would be, lighting up with every word spoken.

As if a switch is flipped his face changes from deadly to sunshine in a second.

"Oh, sorry, sorry just caught me off guard there." he laughs lightly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

The machine sweatdrops.

_**This organic is obviously insane... maybe one should just leave this to one of the patrol bots...**_

As if reading its mind, Kaku grabs what can be assumed is a shoulder, not holding enough to hurt it, but it can't exactly try to shrug it off and run without making it obvious.

Kaku takes a good look at the robot. It was basically an upside down trapezoid with long tubular arms and balls with thick, sausage fingers on for hands. Instead of legs, its body tapered down to the thinner part, and from there released a steady stream of air from the fan keeping it afloat.

Well, that explains the whirs.

"So, how can you help us... And what exactly are you?"

The robot stands, floats, whatever, to its full height and puffs out its chest plates.

"**One is Generation 5 BUTLER, No. 25768943. But most prefer to address one as Red."**

Mana clings to Kaku's leg, staring at Red shyly.

"**One's purpose is to assist visitors of Mechalyne Island to the fullest of one's potential regardless of the time and difficulty it may present as long as the task/tasks are legal. One is here to show Sir Human to the docks and anything else Sir Human desires."**

"Ah, how convenient! So, would you mind not calling me Sir Human, ja?"

"**As you wish, Your Highness."**

"Ah no, I'd prefer something less formal..."

"**Oh Great One?"**

"No, I-"

"**Master?"**

"How about Kaku?"

"**Yes, Kaku-sama!"**

"No, just Kaku is fine."

"**Yes sir, Kaku the Just-sama!"**

"You can call me Kaku-sama..." he rubs his head in frustration, mentally stabbing the hand that was inching toward his swords.

_Don't kill the robot in front of Mana, Kaku. _

_**Later?**_

_We'll see._

He wonders if he should be worried that he just had a conversation with the more sadistic side of himself. Ah, not important.

"**If one may, Kaku-sama, one will direct you to your dock now."**

"Please do, Red-san."

To his puzzlement the robot freezes and turns around to stare at him.

"What? Is there something wrong with my ears again?" they had changed back when Red distracted him.

_That better not be a common occurrence._

"**Kaku-sama... are you deranged?"**

"What's that supposed to mean?" his eyes are closed and he's smiling although you can see he's obviously trying _very_ hard not to do something in front of the girl.

"**One is merely a tool, inferior along with the rest of one's kind to the humans, Kaku-sama. Kaku-sama should not sink so low as to address one with any form of respect and/or formality."**

_That doesn't give me a very high opinion of this island's people you know..._

"I'm the boss here, remember? Although, if it makes you feel better I can refer to you as Red."

"**Oh no, you should not change your mind because of one! One's thoughts are nothing! Oh no, I'm ordering you around..."**Fred starts to twitch and Kaku steps back warily as steam starts coming out if Red's head.

_Great, a machine without a brain... or whatever is in his head._

"Now now, just calm down Red before you overheat or something?"

Red immediately obeys. "**Yes Kaku-sama!"**

_That was fast._

"About the docks, Red?"

"**Oh yes, please excuse one's arrogance, Kaku-sama!"**

_That's getting old really fast, Red._

Red flies over the water and a slit forms where a stomach would be. It opens silently and with surprising dexterity, delicately pulls out what Kaku recognizes as a much smaller version of the ship discs.

He drops it into the water and for a moment nothing happens. Suddenly the ship starts to rock violently, huge bubbles bursting forth in the foaming water, appearing as if a sea volcano is underneath them. With a _WHOOSH!_ A geyser of water throws them into the air, Mana screaming all the while and clinging painfully to a flinching Kaku's hair.

They suddenly stop and hover above the water about ten feet. Falling towards the deck, Kaku grabs Mana and performs a graceful flip, landing without a sound.

Unwisely the robot approaches Kaku, smiling in its robot way.

"**Ah, excellent flip Kaku-sa- GAGH!"**

Kaku's arms snaps out and closes around Red's neck, cutting off his speech and pulling him in close until his forehead is pressed against Kaku's, whose head is angled downward to keep his nose out of the way.

He smiles brightly but his eyes give off a calm killing intent of doom.

"Red-san," he begins, voice dangerously even, "A little warning when you are about to do something like that again."

"**Y-y-yes Kaku-sama-"**

"Kaku. Got it?" he opens his eyes to look at him.

"**YES, KAKU!"**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**A/N: It gets old using 'it', and since they're robots I don't really want to use 'he' and 'she' often, so when you see 'mech' and 'femme'... well common sense would deduce which is which. Transformers fanfics inspired this.**

"So Red-san," said robot flinches and whirls around to stare at Kaku in fear. He mentally sighs to himself in exasperation.

_I didn't go _too_ far, I'm sure I've probably done worse to other people._

"What is Mechalyne Island like exactly?"

"**M-Mechalyne Island is an advanced island due to its vast natural resources and scientists. However, several decades ago it was not always like this. The humans in ancient days discovered things faster than they could comprehend them, resulting in horrible accidents and many pointless inventions. Then came Dr. Franken..."**

"Dr. Franken?"

"**Yes, the savior of Mechalyne Island! In one of the worst storms in known history no less! He washed ashore in a strange contraption and was in a comatose state for two weeks and when he awoke, Dr. Franken set about to meld Mechalyne into what you see today. He opened the Galactic Academy and personally taught all the scientists known today as prodigies, although only his youngest pupil is the closest into surpassing him. He's cured diseases, created the first useful hover vehicles and robot prototypes and much much more. Without him, it might have taken another hundred years before the humans set themselves on track."**

"I see. Is there any chance they could cure my amnesia?"

Red closes his eyes and flaps a hand dismissively. "**Such matters are trivial to Dr. Franken. He regrows new brains to replace old ones with all of one's memories. It has done wonders for humans with brain defects or Alzheimer's and such in the blink of an eye, although there are special... developments at times. ANYWAYS, would you like one to set up an appointment at the hospital, Kaku?"**

"I would like that very much, although I'd prefer to keep my original brain, ja. Oh and I need to replenish the food stores and purchase some new clothing for Mana and I."

"**Yessir, Kaku! One already set up an appointment with Dr. Beetz. If you wish, one can purchase your groceries."**

"That would be wonderful. Let me get a list-"

"**No need!"**the robot produces a pen and paper instantaneously.

"Ah, alright let's see... well the obvious would be drinking water, any vegetables, and..." Kaku leans in closer to Red, "some fruit, including lemons."

Red leans in too. "**Why are we whispering Kaku?"**

Kaku notices Mana edging closer to try and overhear. "Never mind that, just do not, under any circumstances mention F R U I T in front of her."

He point at Mana for emphasis who is by then standing right between the huddled two.

"**Is that a special code Kaku- oh you mean fruit-"**

"**WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" **her sonic scream sends the two to their knees.

"NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"Kaku somehow manages to grab enough purchase around the robot's collar to roughly shake him.

"**GOMENESEI GOMENESEI GOMENESEI...!"**

"**What is going on here No. 25768943?"**

A cold voice interrupts the three. Mana swallows her sobs with an audible gulp and hides behind Kaku's leg to glare at the other robot in front of them.

This one was built like Red only slimmer and more futuristic, giving off a decidedly feminine feel and a bright silver opposed to the scarlet of Red. Kaku immediately put up his guard around her, not showing so on the outside.

Red trembles as he straightens himself out. **"****M.A.R.M! My deepest apologies, there has been a misunderstanding-"**

"**No doubt due to your incompetence"**she cuts him off and turns to Kaku and bows.

"**Please forgive No. 25768943. One can assure you that it is an uncommon model and the No.5 B.U.T.L.E.R. Generation is almost completely gone by now. One shall provide Sir Human and the Young Miss with better service immediately."**

Her look is scathing and the poor mech shrinks in on himself a little more, shoulders hunched and a sad, miserable look on his face. Mana sticks her tongue out at the femme and Kaku silently agrees with her opinion.

To both the robots' shock she marches right up to Red and grabs his hand and smiles at him. And to Red's mortification and the femme's indignation the toddler blows a raspberry at her. Kaku snorts but instantly regains his composure before she can see it.

"Well, as you can see, I think Red's services are much more preferred here Ms..."

"**M.A.R.M. No. 3765A." **she practically spits at him. Ice was warmer than the femme's barely concealed glare. She looks as if to say more but decides against it.

"**As you wish, Sir Human." **with a curt nod she disappears. Kaku and Mana blink owlishly at the empty space.

"Where did she-"

"**BRACE YOURSELF!"** Red shrieks. The velocity of the femme's thrusters throws the boat sideways. Instead of righting itself, the vessel turns until it is completely upside down. But even then it doesn't stop as combined with the power of the hover disk's air stream the boat starts to spin faster and faster. Already expecting such a scenario early on Kaku grabs Mana and leaps for the water.

Mana begins to scream again as they get closer to the blue wetness.

"No! No wattah!" but the swordsman can't hear her over the sound of their ship being torn apart. They hit the water.

Kaku had already prepared to kick strongly to the surface before impact but instead his body froze. In horror the strength fades from his limbs, feeling no stronger than a newborn lamb.

_Damn... can't move!_ Using the last of his strength he looks upward, greeted by a dwindling blob that was the sun shining through the ocean's surface. Against his will his eyes begin to close as the icy liquid fills his lungs.

"**Kaku-sama!"**

A strange echo throughout the watery depths startles the drowning man from the brink of unconsciousness.

A dark blob is seen approaching them, a cloud of bubbles in its wake and tentacles reaching out to grab at them.

_Red..._

And then he knew no more.

**A/N: Okay, my lover-ly readers, I NEED CRITICISM! I'm desperately wondering if things are starting to fall flat here or something b/c I am seriously iffy about this arc in the story so far. I've had zilch when it comes to futuristic so, give me suggestions here! What details should I add to the advanced civilization theme? Or at least tell me if I'm boring you yet so I can go back and rewrite the last two-three chapters. Ttfn mofos! Lol**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

For the second time in his new life the assassin awakes from unconsciousness, the sharp smell of chemicals and a strange feeling of weightlessness about him.

_Am I... dead? _He slowly opens his large, black eyes to be greeted by a circular light fixture hanging from the ceiling and angled to shine directly into his face, several smaller circles containing light bulbs making his skin appear pasty white. Kaku can confirm he's not dead at least, but that doesn't explain why he still feels like he's floating-

"Yikes!" he yelps. He jerks away from the offending needle that a pink, round robot, also capable of hovering, bearing a white hospital cross and cap on its person, held delicately in her claws. Or he at least tries to. All this results is in him spinning around in place like his ravaged boat, some sort of gravity holding him up in the air over a white, glowing disc. With a gentle claw, the **N.U.R.S.E **bot halted his dizzying rotation.

"Someone should really fix this spinning issue..." Kaku groans out loud. The robot merely runs its eyes over his body, emitting a green, hair-thin scan-line over him to inspect his vitals. He follows the robot's gaze, only to stiffen audibly as a new, very unwelcome, problem arises.

"Excuse me, nurse," he looks at the robot, giving his best smile, which momentarily blinds the femme with its shine. "Where exactly are my clothes?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"**Dr. Franken-sama, I believe we have found the perfect test subject for the Virtual Complex."**

"Woohoohahaha! Is that so, Wyst?"

The eccentric genius (some would say mad) holds out a hand barely poking out of a lab coat covered in stitches that would normally be seen on a human body to take a file from his personal robot/secretary. Although nothing is really normal about this man to begin with.

Dr. Jekyll Franken, age 59, from the island of the famous Dr. Vegapunk, Karakuri Island. Half his face is covered by a black visor with two digital dots where eyes would be, mimicking the expression of real ones. Where his ears should be are a pair of earmuffs, a faded light blue and extremely fuzzy. His hair sticks straight up in several twisted spikes as if he was struck by lightning and then tossed about in a tornado. Despite his age and graying hair the man is ridiculously energetic at all times, and fast to avoid the town council when one of his experiments and/or antics tend to cause several blocks' worth of damage (at a minimum, amazingly there are never any causalities).

He flips through the highly detailed file in mere seconds, his eyes reading left to right so quickly, it was like trying to count the number of flaps of a hummingbird's wings during flight.

A grin that would send a chill down any sane, sentient being's mind appears on his face.

"A severe case that my serum can't cure? Who could resist such a fine specimen? I'll pick his brain until he can recall how he came out of his mother's v-"

"**AHEM."** a menacing aura fills the lab, making the already gloomy room almost pitch black.

"Go- GOMENASIA WYST-CHAN!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"**Your clothes, Kaku-sama."**

"Please, just call me Kaku, Nurse-san."

"**Yes sir, Kaku the Just-sama."**

"I rather have the former one..." Kaku sighs in quiet exasperation as he rummages through the shopping bag. Red comes through once again, be it shopping or saving his life. Grateful as he is, Kaku doesn't appreciate being weak. Wracking his brain, he tries to recall why water seems to drain his strength. As usual, nothing.

He pulls out a pair of black boxers, loose black pants, dressy yet functional black boots, a white tank top and a white hat with black lettering saying "FREED". Whether it was the word or he just really wanted a hat again, he immediately takes an immense liking to it.

Pulling on the boots he finally stands back up, the N.U.R.S.E. Bot following his every step, prepared to catch him should he fall since he really isn't supposed to be up without a full twenty-four hour rest, hospital's protocol.

"Can you take me to Mana? She's a toddler I came here with-GAGH!"

"KAKU!" a force slams into the assassin faster than the eye can see.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Ten Minutes Prior Kaku's Awakening**

_A world where there is no in-betweens, no shades of gray, no shadow, midnight, or bridges. Everything is whole, yet so much more. Pitch black is both that and yet not, imbued with ebonies, granites, and bruised purples that stand out brilliantly yet bland together. Light, pure white, yet silver and diamond, pearl, lace agate, white marble. Both apart of the other. Balance. No in-between._

_Mana stands in the middle of this, the same with every slumber now, her dreams replaced with this world and the songs. The songs of Eywa. Snippets of whispers, bellows, melodies, cacophonies, war cries and prayers all play at once yet never grate against each other, never overwhelming and blending into a mess of ear-bleeding gibbering._

_Every one unique and heard, acknowledged but not yet comprehended by the peaceful child. Beneath her feet lies a path made of a night sky, winding over plains that appear as blurry pastel grassy bumps, walking for hours, in an instant's time, towards the songs' source._

_But every time she looks into the woman's face she will awaken before comprehending what is there..._

Snapping her eyes open, Mana sits up panting.

A commotion from the door has her turning curiously to it and through it bursts three N.U.R.S.E Bots with nets attempting to catch Flint, who upon seeing Mana, leaps onto a control panel and into her arms. Unknown to him, the rooster switches off the anti-gravity bed and with an "Oomph!" they fall onto the hard floor.

Suddenly, a blue N.U.R.S.E bot comes at them with a bizarrely large tranquilizer for the escaped fowl. With a scream, child and bird flee the room at breakneck speed, Mana's tattoos on her legs glowing brightly as she uses them to jump six feet over the remaining hospital robots, who gawk at the nude child.

Still running frantically, the duo trip doctors and upset tables and shelves containing dangerous mixtures that can't be mixed with one another or exposed to open air. In the innocent girl's breakneck wake she leaves behind spontaneous explosions, the flames, toxic smoke and aftershocks being absorbed by the holes that form on her back, glowing with the more harmful energy they absorb before disappearing as they round another corner and stop to breathe.

Sniffling and hair still damp from _another_ near-drowning experience from earlier, the two hide behind a receptionist's desk as doctors, robots and P.A.T.R.O.L bots search for the two.

A tickling sensation builds in Mana's nose. Recognizing the signs, Flint shoves a feather under her nose just as she almost sneezes. With a sigh of relief the two wait for the last mech to pass then -

"ACHOO!" holes from all over her body appear, glowing ominously before an explosion that forms a small mushroom cloud over the children's wing of the hospital.

Opening her teared-up eyes, Mana sniffs innocently in the epicenter of the mass destruction she has just caused.

"Flint?" she queries. A strangled chirp at her feet has the child looking down to behold some sort of black, mangled, and slightly _twitching thing_ at her feet. It sort of reminded her of the Buri-Buri spiders that liked to nest in the coconuts on her island-... SPIDER?

An unearthly shriek resonates through the hospital. "**KAAAAAAAAAKUUUUUUUU**!" a comical waterfall of anime tears cascade down her face as the toddler books it to wherever the hell Kaku is and more importantly the large arachnid _isn't._

A stray roll of bandages lay unraveled in her path, one end in a loose loop behind the 'spider', the other sticking to her foot, the nanites reacting to the contact of skin. With a yank, the black lump is lassoed. Mana looks behind her and to her horror sees that the spider had managed to catch her with some of its web, like the Buri-Buri Spiders!

"**YAAAAAAAATAAAAAAAA**! NO, GO 'WAY! GO'WAYGO'WAYGO'WAY..." still conscious hospital staff chase after the two.

To the right she suddenly hears a voice.

"_Can you take me to Mana?"_

Kaku!

"_She's a toddler I came here with-GAGH!"_

Mana slams into Kaku, a flash of silver and weeps hysterically in his arms that instinctively wrapped around her.

"Sp-sp-spiiiiiide!"

Kaku furrows his brows in confusion.

"Spide? Meanwhile, none of them notice the black blob skyrocketing towards them, still firmly tied to the bandage.

"CHIIIIRRP!"

"AGHCK!" the blob connects with Kaku's face.

The blob is crammed in Kaku's mouth.

The commotion brings Mana's attention to Kaku's face.

The spider is right above her and killing Kaku.

"...Sp..." the child's eye twitches as a scream is strangled in her throat, petrified.

"Sp-sp-sp-sp..." a pale white, she can only watch as Kaku finally coughs up the offending bug. Unfortunately, Mana doesn't notice the protruding legs were actually feathers knocked astray on the rooster as it fell...right on her head.

A dead silence seems to befall, ignoring Kaku's gagging. Mana's eyes dilate and the tattoos on her body start to glow.

Kaku opens his streaming eyes at the growing light. "What the-"

"**SPIIIIIIIIDEEEEEEEER!"**

The sonic screech short-circuits the robots, blows out the lights and shatters windows. But it doesn't stop there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dr. Franken prepares the Virtual Complex, a machine capable of delving into the human mind, making any experience there affect the owner's physical body be it pain, pleasure, happiness, time, or physical training. A simple electric chair with restraints on the arms and two front legs would hold the victim- er volunteer- in place and a bike helmet with several protruding spikes with small round balls on the end, random sparks of electricity flashing between them in dancing, crazed ribbons. Inside this contraption were mecha-organic wires that would burrow harmlessly into the skull, spine and throughout the whole body's nervous system, muscles, organs and even bones. On the top a slightly twitching cable, also mecha-organic, connected to a separate if more plainer helmet, from which the good doctor could participate in, observe, and affect the person's mind and body indirectly.

And he has finally found a test subject that he could claim to be merely offering a helping hand, instead of trying to find out all the glitches in his latest creation on humans. Honestly, the last one only grew _one_ extra arm and head. Its not like he blew up... right away.

"Now, Wyst-chan please send out a retrieval bot for the specimen-"

_"SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIDEEEEEEEEEEEER!"_

Franken's visor cracks, his test tubes shatter, and poor Wyst-chan and any other robot/fragile/glass object breaks.

On top of a shelf a small, purple velvet bag falls. Tearing off his visor, the scientist watches in horror as the precious treasure tumbles to the ground. Diving for it, he catches the precious item, not daring to open it in case the tracking device imbedded in the bag should activate.

"P.A.T.! Situation diagnostics!" he barks at a large, organ-like computer, also covered in stitch patterns in everywhere but the screen, which remarkably stayed intact and unharmed despite the sonic onslaught.

"**Yes, Dr. Franken." **a monotone voice, neither male nor female, replies.

While the computer reports its calculations of the damage cost, destroyed experiments and such, Franken places the bag in a special place in his lab coat, namely a V.O.I.D., another dimension capable of storing unlimited amounts of items and preserving them, as long as they fit through the pocket.

Unfortunately the man doesn't notice that the chip fell out of the bag's lining, activating on impact from colliding with the floor as he did so.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Dr. Vegapunk-sama! Horrible news! Someone has stolen one of your experiments, No. 687B.0!"

The breathless marine scientist bends forward, hands on his knees and breathing hard. The Marine Bureau of Technological Advancements and Judicious Research wasn't exactly small.

No response.

"Dr.-"

"I heard you!" a voice booms out from out of nowhere in the cavity of some sort of breathing machine, secreting some kind of pink, noxious gas from several open pores on its body.

"The marines have been notified sir-"

"I know! I know everything, remember?"

The scientist shrinks back in fear at the annoyed tone. He doesn't know the man personally, but the rumors never mentioned the man was easily angered... just that he had enough superb skill to dissect and experiment on you in your sleep without waking you.

"W-well, I'll just be on my way sir..." with that the unfortunate man hurries from one of Vegapunk's many operation rooms.

A dark figure is seen to emerge, extremely tall with large hands and long, thin fingers.

"So what will you do now, Franken? Run or die?" his voice holds a tint of anger, swallowed by his mad laughs as he tries to picture his childhood friend running for his life from the government they both hate. It wasn't hard, considering he's seen Franken's backside fleeing long into the distance with a dust cloud trailing behind, scatting from they're foster mother's wrath for blowing the basement up... again.

**A/N: Hello, here's a longer chapter to make up for all the shorter ones! What do you think of my new O/C? Maybe I should mention I don't own soul eater, b/c Franken is sort of inspired from that... anyways, REVIEW! YOUR HATING AND COMMENTING AND SUGGESTIONS ARE MUCH TREASURED!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**A/N: I'm getting a bit more sci-fi here, so tell me how well I did please!**

"A-ACHOO!" Someone must be talking about him. Eh. Franken sniffs loudly, a sickening, sucking sound evident before he swallows. And then freezes.

"GOMEN, WYST-CHA-" he stops. Looking around, he senses no killing aura from his motherly assistant that would usually be evident before beating him to a bloody pulp for 'atrocious manners.'

His eyes finally alight on the poor femme's fried frame and frowns. Not many creations from his own hands can be damaged so easily. Franken strides over to her fallen form and tenderly picks her up, her 'body' hanging limp in his arms, like a tragic death scene from a movie. A rustling sound catches his attention. In her hand she still grasped the file containing his test subject candidate.

"Ah, always putting your duties first," he sighs. She would have been able to properly shield herself if she'd dropped the file and shut down her systems. Instead, she kept them active to not vaporize the document when the magnetic force-field activates around her body.

Walking up to a table, he gently lowers her down. He brings his hands to her head, one resting on the cheek, the other settling around her throat and – snaps it to the side, effectively breaking her spinal rod.

The disconcerting contrast of brutality at odds with his previous handling does not affect the man in the least as he pulls a key from another of his hidden pockets and inserts it into the back of Wyst's cranium.

With a click, the back of her head pops off, revealing a light blue, see through gelatin lined with wires, uncannily resembling the design of a human brain.

The scientist smirks at his genius creation before snapping on a pair of specially designed anti-gravity gloves. Focusing his mind, the anti-gravity waves surround the brain, emitting a light purple glow and slowly lifts the brain free. Beneath it dangled several writhing wires, seeking to plug into a nervous system.

"Yosh! P.A.T. , pinpoint the location of that shock wave. Oh, and bring out model frame No. 34464AD."

"**Yes, Dr. Franken."** the genderless voice replies. Whirs and clicks emit from the large machine as lines of latitude and longitude ripple across the screen, distorted by the sonar scanning for the scream. At the same time, a seam appears in the middle of the lab's floor, opening without a sound, vapor emitting from the contrast of the subfreezing tank and the room's temperature.

Slowly from the dark hole emerges a blue glow, and making out details, reveals a gorgeous young woman in her early twenties, long, wavy hair a bleached sky blue and her skin like alabaster. Her lips were rosy red, and she wore an outfit consisting of a simple hospital gown. The only thing to mar her beauty is the large, open gash on the back of her head. Instead of revealing her fleshy, vulnerable brain is an empty cavity.

From the frozen tank, many tubes are attached to her body, a blue-black fluid akin to blood circulating into and out of her, an oxygen mask pushing air in and out of non-functioning lungs, electric shocks sent through the body to keep the heart pumping and the nervous system function properly.

A sorrowful look flickers across the man's face, recalling a time when the still form once laughed and bantered good-naturedly with him, always competing to see who's invention was better. She was one of the few reasons he'd bothered to stay on the island after setting those foolish whipper-snappers straight...

Shaking his head, Franken strides with purpose to the female, who, to his approach, is slowly freed from her icy coffin. The chrionic, solidified gelatin melts, although instead of dripping it vaporizes into the air, emitting a hissing sound.

The nameless woman hangs in mid-air. Using one of his hands, the man uses his pointer finger and rotates it, signaling the sensors to alter her body into a horizontal position, her hollow skull pointed towards him, hair floating as if in a breeze.

Oh so slowly and carefully he lowers the 'brain' into the cavity, the wires, sensing mecha-organic material compatible to its nervous system, lengthened, plunging into the body and thinning to a microscopic level, permanently fusing with nerves, bones and flesh, becoming one.

The adaptation programming in Wyst's brain takes charge, connecting with the life support network for her new vessel, instructing it to finish its latest rotation of her 'blood' and return it all to her body without another rotation. The oxygen mask is all that remains as the fluids return to veins, wires that fed in the electric shocks to keep the heart moving no longer necessary with a brain to tell the body how to function again. As they pull out, no holes or marks remain as the tubes had fused through the skin, pulling out, writhing like her brain-stem wire circuitry.

The brain settles itself in. Satisfied if a little shaken, Franken produces another item from his pocket, a small jar with a metallic, fleshy putty writhing in its confines. Holding it between his teeth, he flicks his wrists, signaling the gloves to switch modes to protect his hands from the stuff.

With a ripple, sending a small tingle through him, the gloves change from a sterilized white with suction cup hover disks, imbedded in several parts that protruded as much as a callous, to a skin-tight black. Several green wires run through the material, giving his hands the appearance of a robot's inner circuitry before the synthetic skin is stretched over it.

A faint humming can be heard from them. Grasping the jar, he yanks off the cap, upside down. Good thing too, for the mecha-organic flesh putty immediately springs out, writhing like a snake, searching for anything to mold itself too. Preferably living.

A sizzling sound emits as it comes into contacts with the gloves, or really the paper-thin electric field surrounding them, forcing the metal in the substance into a ball, albeit a quivering one, in his right hand. With the left, still holding the jar, he chucks it over his shoulder. A T.R.A.S.H. Bot appears out of the shadows, its frog-like tongue snapping it up, 'swallowing' it with a "Burp!".

Grabbing a delicate pair of tweezers, he approaches a cabinet and pulls out a small square container. He squeezes until the top pops off. Placing it on a counter, he carefully extracts a miniscule microchip, scarcely bigger than his pinky nail.

He again returns to the now twitching body, struggling to retain consciousness, or 'reboot' as Wyst kept demanding of her 'frame', unaware of how vastly different it is from her old one.

_That pervert better not have given me a P.L.E.A.S.U.R.E bot frame!_ Several plans for vengeance, going against the three laws of robotics, flash through her mind. Wyst is well aware she isn't made like most other robots, her brain having been grown instead of built, giving her free will, and injections of chemical mixtures to allow her a permanent experience of emotions.

Unaware of her thoughts, Franken holds the chip in the center of the gash. Facing the ball towards the hole, sensing damaged skin in need of repairing, strains against its restraints. Franken finally obliges its wishes, and with a "Splat!" the putty fuses to her skin, the microchip containing the genetic DNA programming to assimilate to her body, recreating bone to heal the skull, then flesh, and finally sprouting hair exactly identical to the woman's.

Finally finished, three N.U.R.S.E bots fly into the room, taking Wyst away to her room to rest until she regained consciousness.

Jekyll claps his hands, deactivating the gloves, which turn to an unimpressive, dull gray, sliding them off with ease.

"**Dr. Franken, location of subject has been identified." **a zoomed image from a camera reveals a well-muscled yet lean man with tan skin and chatain hair, slightly mussed from sleep. Something is familiar about this man... He turns to face the camera.

Franken jaw drops and his eyes practically fall out of their sockets. "WHAT THE HELL?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As sudden as it starts, the sonic assault ends, leaving any within the vicinity severely dazed or unconscious.

Kaku remains among the latter, Mana passed out in his arms from the sudden power surge. A warm trickle and iron scent breaks through his muddled thoughts and he swipes a hand over his ear. Bringing it back into view he's startled to realize that its smeared with blood. His blood.

The thought disturbs him immensely, sure that him being injured enough to bleed, however indirectly, was a rarity in itself. But another thought stops him cold. He quickly snaps his fingers, cradling Mana in his other arm. No sound.

With a sinking feeling in the pits of his stomach, Kaku tries again, closer to his ear. Nothing.

Less disciplined individuals would be panicking. Only years of self-control prevent him from screaming, desperate for any noise, even a whisper. His ears weren't even ringing out of pain!

_This- this is bad..._ Dear God that is an understatement. He takes in his surroundings, shoulders tense, ready to react to any possible threat of danger now that he can't rely on a vital part of his senses anymore.

A flash catches his attention and to his despair, gazes straight into a camera pointing directly at him.

"Damn!" without thinking he grabs the nearest thing at hand, which happened to be an offlined P.A.T.R.O.L bot, effectively hurling it into the surveillance machine, destroying both.

_They know what we look like. We need to leave. Red! I need Red._

"**Kaku-sama!"** Red comes bursting out of a hallway, catching Kaku's attention. _Speak of the devil..._ The bright scarlet machine hurtles toward him at an alarming speed. Several dozen shopping bags hang from the mech's arms, irking Kaku.

_I told him not to spend all of my money!_

Before he can speak Red cuts him off. **"You are in danger Kaku-sama! The alien shock wave has damaged the hospital's support beam. Everyone has been evacuated so far except you and the other human's here- Oh my Franken, what happened to your hearing sensors?"**

Kaku just stares at him blankly. "Would you mind writing that down?"

Red freezes, scanning Kaku's body with the same beam as the N.U.R.S.E bot. Everything checked out, although those scars on his chest were still a little iffy, but he stops cold when he reaches his ear drums.

Focusing, heat sensors show that they're absolutely shattered beyond repair. Not only blood leaked out, but the fluid contained in his inner ear that channeled sound from air to liquid, containing the protein filaments(hairs) in the sensory epithelium. Everything was so damaged that it was like he was born without ears.

Even with transplants, he'd never hear anything the same again. Not to mention his blood type is incompatible with mecha-organic organs.

Coming to this conclusion, Red straightens himself, letting his arms fall to his sides, dropping his purchases to Kaku's annoyance. With resolve he decides to reveal a secret he'd discovered long ago about his frame, hiding it well from maintenance mechanics.

_**Motherboard activation frame code No. **_**25768943, ****_mode B._**

To Kaku's shock, Red begins to shift, his outer red plating retracting, his whole body narrowing, compacting and altering. Soon, his whole body is a writhing frame of wires and hovering plates before they start connect into new shapes.

To Franken's and Kaku's shock, before them emerges a 'man', well muscled with large hands, a slim waist and wearing a red butler's suit. His eyes were a pale blue and his hair a maroon shade.

Clearing his throat, Red speaks. "Greetings Kaku-sama. In this form I am known as Alfred."

Reading his new lips, Kaku manages to choke out an unintelligent, "EHHHH?"

**A/N: Whoo, finally done. I've decided I want Kaku to be deaf. Don't hate me for it! Review!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Shhh!" Alfred says. Kaku doesn't get the message. The android places a finger over his lips, the universal symbol of "Shush!"

"Sorry," he starts, watching 'Alfred's ' reaction to make sure he was whispering, since he himself can no longer tell. _Focus, Kaku._ "We need to leave. Mana, she- I don't know, but she's responsible for that... explosion. Wait."

He holds up a hand as Alfred opens his mouth to interrupt. "Our faces have been seen. I wouldn't be surprised if the authorities are on their way. Where are my swords?"

"Oh! Yes, well, you see- about the swords- they weren't really that important, right? Easily replaced, hahahahaha..." Alfred trails off nervously, Kaku able to easily interpret the nervous reaction as an answer he is _not_ happy with.

"Alfred," he starts, the calm in his voice bellying the fury in him, " Where the bloody hell are my katana?"

If it were possible, the mech's hair managed to pale with the rest of his body in pure terror, a typical "I'm-sorry-please-don't-kill-me-for-screwing-up" look on his face, eyes gone white and anime tears streaming down his face along with sweatdrops.

Anyone, even those without the keen eye of detail that an assassin retains, could tell the answer would not be... pleasant to say the least.

"_Reeeeeeed."_ The android takes one look at Kaku's suddenly murderous- like, _demonic assassin-mode murderous- _glare,and screams, turning to run away. Assassin training kicking in (never let the 'prey'/target escape), he casually grabs hold of the android... and is yanked off his feet by the powerful machine.

They careen wildly down the hall, skirting around boulders of debris and random holes in the floor, Kaku hanging on for dear life as his body is now horizontal from the amount of speed the mech was using.

"Red!" the android is too busy panicking to hear him. "ALFRED!" This time he turns his head, all the way around like an owl, Kaku's long nose jabbing into surprisingly soft skin. Like he was really human.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Alfred screams upon seeing him, and unbelievably kicks up another notch, as if he could evade someone _clinging to him_. Kaku doesn't even flinch, but the sound certainly arouses Mana, who'd remained unconscious until now.

Feeling her squirm, Kaku looks down at her. She looked dazed, and definitely exhausted, but seemed fine otherwise.

Trailing behind them, the bandage still clung to Mana's foot. Flint, long passed out since the sneezing incident, bounced unceremoniously after.

A sudden lurching causes Alfred to trip. The sudden stop doesn't affect the inertia of the rooster, who is flung over them, and as they fall and roll, the bandage fuses to their skin, tying them up, along with other pieces to rubble.

After rolling a few feet, all finally come to a halt as a mess of arms, legs, curses, and groans. Kaku is currently at the bottom, trying to focus on breathing as all their weight press down on his lungs, his face smushed into the ground. Unnoticed to them, the floor is still tipping to the side as the large pole support of the tower continues to bend despite the reinforced titanium.

The subtle shifting slowly increases, a groan emerging as the weight of the burden atop the metal increases.

Small pebbles roll past, seemingly unimportant. To all but Kaku's watchful eye.

His eyes widen in dawning horror. "We need to move! NOW!"

With a final groan, the metal finally snaps, and the four float in mid air as the building plummets to the ground.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Franken gapes in shock at the sight of Kaku, his test subject candidate for the Virtual Complex. The man's face goes pale at seeing the camera trained on him, and the doctor doesn't fail to notice a dangerous, subtle glint in his eye before using a stray robot's body to destroy the image.

He'd seen that glint before. The eyes of an assassin. "Woohoohahahaha, it seems like the government has finally caught on to me!" his laughter abruptly cuts off, his casual attitude dropping completely to be replaced with a sharp, contemplating look of the genius he truly is. "P.A.T., send out my retrieval drones one through five."

"**Yes, Dr. Franken."** Jekyll observes as the screen switches to a security camera, showing a panel open up in a deserted alley. From it emerges five men, all varying in size, appearance, and age. Each held a face that brought forth strong waves of nostalgia to the scientist, all deceased comrades of a time forever burned into his memory.

The first to emerge is an adult male in his early thirties, all muscle and grace with a scowl that seemed to be permanently etched into his forehead, dressed in casual Mechalynian wear. The second is a girl strikingly similar to the woman's body that now belongs to Wyst, around sixteen, and dressed in a lab coat. Two more figures, a girl and boy, only distinguishable by the length of their black hair. Both are around twelve, almond-colored skin setting them apart from the rest. Finally comes an elderly woman, lines evident around her mouth and eyes, whether from laughter or suffering can not be said, face devoid of emotion.

Each hold a specific specialty that complimented and balanced the other, programmed with personalities exact to the people they resemble, and each given sentience.

But none are truly the people he once knew.

Franken types rapidly at an enviable speed across the keyboard, sending Kaku's location and photo to each cybernetic mind with orders to capture and keep the maiming to a minimum.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, nice to see the sky again. Thought we were gonna rust away in the basement forever!" Exclaims the girl.

The man just grunts in response. The girl pouts at his attitude. "Oh, c'mon Tor, even you were starting to get antsy. I can't be the only one, right Claudes?" She turns her bright, neon purple eyes to the woman.

"Its Commander Claudia to you, runt." she tells her coldly.

"Stingy!" she pokes her tongue out childishly. "What about you guys- where'd the twins go?"

This gets a reaction out of Tor. "Eh? Oi, get back here!" both children freeze at having been caught trying to sneak out of the alley.

Girl: "Aw, but we're-"

Boy: "So bored and-"

Girl: "Its not like we-"

Boy: "Were doin' anything wrong!"

A glare from both adults bring them skittering back quickly.

The girl cocks her head to the side like a bird. "How do you guys do that anyway?"

Boy: "Do-"

Girl: "What, Win-

Boy: "-Ry?"

"Never mind." Winry sweatdrops.

All suddenly still, eyes glazing over as they receive commands from their creator.

"Oooh, we get to capture an actual human this time!" Winry's goofy smile grows larger, curling bizarrely around the edges, a crazed gleam in her eyes.

Girl: "Winry you've got-"

Boy: " 'the look' again!"

She snaps out of it. "Ahahaha, don't mind me~!"

Both: "She's definitely demented..."

"What was that?" her head snaps around, a serene smile emitting peaceful rays of doom.

Boy: "NO-

Girl: "THING!"

"Enough!" barks Claudia. All their attention snaps to the woman, face still devoid of expression despite the obvious annoyance lacing her tone. "We all have our orders. Winry, hack into the system and see if you can get a visual on the target. Momo and Jojo will set up the cloaking shield with Winry, and Tor and I shall perform the capture. Clear?"

"Hai, Ma'am!" The three salute, Tor simply nodding.

"Spread out!" With a leap, the five figures disappear.

**A/N: Damn I'm cold! *Blows on fingers* At least I managed to get this out before I got frostbite in my poor fingers. Thanks for reading! Happy Halloween! (since I don't know if I'll even have another chapter out by then...)**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**A/N: My muse has returned with many new plot twists and OC's! Be prepared!**

Rover is not happy. And when the Head of the Council isn't happy, every one else better be scrambling to _make _ him happy.

The day was pleasant enough. It had been an entire month, a record, since any mayhem resulted from one of Franken's eccentric and/or bizarre experiments. But no, don't underestimate the man. Always better to be extra paranoid, god knows what the unpredictable scientist could be cooking up in his lab. What had been the point of those fire-breathing yaks anyway?

He wakes up precisely at seven o'clock, an alarm designed specifically for his brain pattern emitting a wave of energy that would invigorate the synapses in his brain like flipping an on-switch on a machine. The result is the lack of feeling the need to fall back asleep. Very invigorating. With a stretch he swings his feet out of the bed and his mice slippers skitter across the floor, sliding onto his feet before they touch the ground. Two **MAID **bots slip a red robe over his waiting arms and the bedroom door splits down the middle before automatically closing behind him as he heads for the bathroom.

The same **MAIDs** lather his face with shaving cream and the other briskly uses a razor to take off the stubble. He wipes his face with a towel when they are done, shooing them off. He looks into the mirror a moment, revealing a man in his late twenties with greenish-black hair, tanned skin and black eyes, thin but severe eyebrows giving him a dignified look. Stopping at the end of a hallway, a circle appears around him and then sinks through the floor, bringing him to the ground floor.

Stepping off it, the sound of mechanical barking is his only warning before his cyborg dog launches at him, the morning newspaper clutched in her mouth. Rover does not even flinch as she slams into his broad chest, a small smile gracing his face as he pets the animal. Through the dome on her head he could see the see-through, glowing blue gelatin that was now her brain, her memories downloaded into it and giving her a cybernetic body so she'd live longer.

"Good morning girl," he takes the newspaper from her without issue and fishes around in his robe pocket. "Now where did I put i- aha!" with a flourish he presents a wrench to the now ecstatic dog. "You want the wrench?," he teases, the mentally-enhanced dog nodding vigorously, following the object's every move as he wiggles it teasingly in front of her nose. "Then... FETCH!" he hurls it out an open window, the dog tearing off after it.

"**Your coffee, Sir Rover." **a **MAID **bot holding a feather duster in one delicate claw presents him with a tray containing french vanilla coffee with whip cream and cinnamon on top with a freshly baked and buttered croissant. Rover takes the coffee and inhales deeply before downing it and snatching up the bread. "What's the weather forecast? More importantly, has Franken been up to anything?"

"**Today will be a sunny 75 degrees, sir. Dr. Jekyll Franken has shown no sign of activity, nor have there been any mysterious electrical surges, decrease in animal life, or random explosions. One is happy to report that the fire yaks have devoured a large portion of tangle-weed and other deadly plants in the uninhabited lands of Mechalyne Island, sir Rover."** Oh, so that's why he made them.

Tangle-weed was a common, dangerous plant resembling an anemone, easily recognizable due to the neon shades it comes in. Once a poor creature brushes against it, the plant would wrap its tentacles around its victim, shoving some down the throat to strangle the heart and then suck out its prey's organs, leaving behind a sack of skin and bones. He'd lost his brother that way when he was seven...

He heaves a sigh. "Alright, so they're useful after all. Alert the authorities and bounty hunters that those things are now considered a protected species." The robot goes still, relaying the message and no doubt bringing a smug grin to Jekylls face. Despite the chaos of his inventions, they were always so damn _useful_, no matter what shape or form it seemed to come in. Blast it.

The rest of the day is uneventful. At the city council he listens to petty complaints from many people, more common than not they consist of the overweight due to the pampering of robots that probably chewed the food for their masters and grotesquely underweight ones from recently removing too much excess fat with gene therapy. He was a rarity among the people, physically in shape and indulging in his robots only when he wakes up, not bothering with bodily enhancements. His dog, Nova, was an exception. Nothing of importance stood out, leaving him to go over dull paperwork about future meetings and the city budget, not trusting a robot to do it for him. Some may disagree, but letting creatures that usually don't have the ability to feel to oversee such important things does not sit well with Rover.

Take for example the city orphanage. Due to a mass outbreak of mutated tangle-weed about 30 years B.F. ago (Before Franken), there had been a staggering amount of casualties. His parents and brother had been among them. Despite the loss, the orphanage contained many happy memories for him and though it wasn't needed quite as much now he considers it an important part of the city's history. It should remain to remind the people of why they shouldn't get too carried away with experimenting with life. Anything can go wrong, and before, it used to until Franken came along and set everything on track.

Finally, after several more pointless hours and longing for a competent secretary to help him with this load of fecal matter he takes off his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose.

"If you keep scowling like that you're going to get wrinkles. I can already see the gray creeping into your hair!" his head snaps up, glowering at the young man before him.

"Dr. Bleu," he greets shortly. The boy was barely eighteen and already working for the MR&D Co. (Mecha Research and Development). Instead of being offended, Ty Bleu only smiles cheerfully, electric blond hair spiked out in a similar fashion of his personal teacher, Dr. Franken himself. Over his ears are a pair of spikes, emphasizing the look that he was shocked by lightning, a small scar on his forehead the only flaw on his happy-go-lucky face. The citizens and scientists love the boy, their praise of him almost enough to rival that of Franken's.

"Such a nice day, no? My, look at all that paperwork! You know, I've been focusing on improving the eyes, if you'll just give me the funding I'm sure I can give you the ability to finish that in under ten minutes-"

"No. You know the rules Bleu, no human experimentation, even for willing subjects. The dangers it poses now that we know how to play with DNA are-"

"But we could erase all those dangers once we learn from mistakes!" Bleu argues. "Look at the citizens of this place! All of them are either grotesque twigs or pudgy swine. I could enhance metabolism so that wouldn't be a problem! No more cancer, no more disabilities and deformities. Longer life-spans. Eventually we could even maintain immortality-"

"Enough!" Rover stands up, knocking over his chair and upsetting his desk. Both men were breathing hard. "This is the last time Bleu. Even Dr. Franken agrees with me on these views. Among the conditions he set years ago in return for sharing his knowleedge, forbidding human experimentation was among them! I hate to admit it but the man has a point, even if I don't understand most of his motives half the time. These rules are necessary to retain our humanity and respect for life. To become a God is not for us. Humans can't handle that kind of burden, or at least the majority can't. Do you understand?" He stares hard into the boy's eyes the whole time, the latter's never wavering from his own. And for a minute he sees through the boy's mask. A flash of pure hatred during their conversation when he mentions-

"!"

The windows shatter. Rover's glasses break. The lights burn out and the floor shakes. Both men roll on the ground in agony, the shrill screeching rattling their very bones. Finally after what seemed a lifetime there is silence again. His ears ring painfully loud and Bleu appears just as dazed as he feels.

"...What the hell _was_ that?" he chokes out. His voice is strained.

"Don't look at me." Both are quiet. The sound of footsteps and sirens emerge.

"**Rover-sama! Are you in need of assistance?"** Rover curls his lips in distaste. **M.E.D. **Bots...

"I'm fine, now what in the bloody hell- oi, stop that!", he shoos at a M.E.D bot trying to dab at a cut over his eye he hadn't notice until the antiseptic cotton made contact. "Now, as I was saying, what was that anomaly just now?" A **P.A.T.R.O.L **bot steps forward.

"**PATROL bot No. 6558-"**

"Yes, yes get on with it," Rover gestures impatiently.

"**Sir, the origin of disturbance is located at Metro Hospital. Two culprits consist of this. Disturbance classified as act of terrorism-"**

"Terrorism!"

"**Yes sir, one of them is a wanted fugitive of the World Government although the crimes are not listed." **the black visor covering the robot's face lights up, revealing a still-shot from a security camera A young man in his early twenties cradled a blue-haired child in one arm. Blood was leaking out of both ears and the look on his face was deadly as he clutches an offlined mech, just about to throw it at the camera.

A commotion outside fills the air. Citizens were screaming in panic and the tearing sound of metal could be heard.

"Now what?" Rover demands. He grabs a random woman rushing by. "What's going on?" he questions.

The woman's face is pale.

"The- the hospital... its support beam is compromised."

A beat of silence. This is it. The man's chaotic experiments have finally gone too far, like he'd known they would all along. "FRAAAAAANKEEEEN!" No one notices that Bleu had disappeared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm telling you, its not gonna fall!" Winry shouts.

Momo: "Yes it-"

Jojo: "Will Winry!"

The three stand under the shadow of the hospital tipped precariously on its support beam, none of the three noticing the pole slowly giving way to the weight at its top.

Around the trio are several **P.A.T.R.O.L **bots of varying rank herding panicking and confused citizens out of the radius of the hospital, hacked courtesy of Winry. The twins have just finished placing the cloaking shield around the area, giving the illusion of a perfectly intact and unblemished building among all the others, complete with holograms of people walking by and hover vehicles flying through the air.

Winry ignores them and continues to hack and eavesdrop on police conversations, manipulating one here or there to keep them away from the area. Her eyes flash green with the data streaming through her cybernetic brain, fingers typing at an invisible keyboard.

M: "Ne, Winry, we wanna-"

J: "See Tor and Claudes climb-"

M: "The tower."

"Okey-dokey, and while you're at it watch out for any rabid squirrels."

Both: "...Why?"

"Because squaids is serious chiz!"

The twins sweatdrop.

M: "What?"

"Squirrel aids! Don't you people listen?" she rolls her eyes as she tosses the binoculars to them.

Jojo turns to his twin. "Squirrel aids?" he mouths at her. Momo gives him a shrug.

Eagerly the two press a single eye to each side, and shift trying to spot the adults.

"Look to the left about sixty-seven degrees," Winry pipes up.

The twins oblige and lo and behold, Claudes was clinging to Tor as he climbed up the pole unceasingly, digging his bare hands into the reinforced metal like it was paper.

"How do you do that?" Jojo breathes.

"Huh, sorry what?" Winry snaps awake, having dozed off and the robots under her control wreaking random chaos in the background from the her bizarre dreams corrupting their data functions.

"STOP SLACKING OFF!" they shout at her with white eyes and shark teeth.

A shrieking groan brings their head snapping upwards to behold, to their horror, the tower above finally snapping free and coming down right on top of them.

XXXXXXXXXX

The tower makes contact and all throughout a large portion of the island huge tremors shake the city, upsetting homes and power lines. A construction site nearby the hospital leans dangerously to the side but holds fast except for a lone iron beam. It tumbles through the air before finally straightening out and skewering one of the four cloaking rods. With a crackle and fizzle the mirage disappears, revealing the mass destruction.

Standing not too far away Rover stares at the ruins, face devoid of emotion. "Was there any one inside?"

"No sir." a man replies. "Also, amazingly, there was no one in the square."

Something flashes out of the corner of his eye. Jutting out of the ground was a piece of some sort of machine, mangled and twisted and still smoking. Rover strides forward and picks it up gingerly, the metal surprisingly cool to the touch. It was the fragment of a bomb shell. Such things were forbidden on the island. He turns it over, hoping to glint at least some clue as to its origin and freezes.

On the corner is a slightly marred logo of a madly grinning skull with a large screw running through its head. The personal emblem of a certain scientist.

"Lieutenant!" he barks, veins standing out in sharp relief as fury shoots through him.

"Yes sir!"

"I want Jekyll Franken arrested and his lab put on lock-down until we have fully investigated this incident."

"B-but sir, Dr. Franken's lab is a key manufacturer for MR&D! This will put a halt to a large portion of citizens' incomes. Not to mention the man is a prestigious figure among the people-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion man, now get on it before someone dies!"

**A/N: I don't own squaids, I just heard them on a funny youtube video and had to use it. Hope I gave everyone a good chapter!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A**Chapter 17

**A/N: Okay, my computer has a virus so I have no idea how often I'll be able to update from now on, but I'll keep writing until I can share all my lovely chapters with my loyal readers. Enjoy!**

Shadow engulfed the area save for where parts of the wall and ceiling caved in upon impact. Dust didn't help the case, having yet to settle and casting an eerie fog throughout. The warning alarms were silent, their circuitry damaged beyond repair. Jutting out of the ceiling are iron beams and long, mangled rows of pipes still clinging to one another, dripping water along with more unpleasant things. Power cables writhe like so many snakes from the electricity in their veins, the nanites struggling to find a power regulator to connect to.

Further into the bowels of the building, past rubble and ravaged machinery is an area of complete darkness, the most fortified from destruction as it was the center. Piercing through the middle of the vast room is a huge, metallic support beam that had once held it aloft in the skies, mightier than an ancient tree. A crack above allows a single trickle of water to sneak through, gradually pooling in place while a trail runs down the now almost vertical ceiling. Finally, gravity pulls free a miniscule droplet and it descends quickly despite its diminutive size.

Down, down, _down_ it goes and one wonders idly if perhaps there is no bottom in this light less room, that this poor, innocent thing shall be doomed to forever traverse this empty chasm until it simply evaporates- Splat! The first contact of the water drop's life is with a stick. Perhaps a piece of railing or a particularly small beam. It slowly slides down and trickles along the side of the rectangular mystery object and all too quickly slips into a small hole regularly exhaling and inhaling air...

With a snort Kaku jolts awake, immediately sneezing and hacking up gobs of saliva and inhaled dust, the dream he'd had still fresh in his memory.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

_He opens his eyes to behold a world of togetherness and contrast, dark and light both separate yet containing a bit of each. For an unknown reason he knows that no in-betweens in this world is how it should be. __A strange vibration shakes the very soul of his body, or should he say vibration_**s**_. The feeling is like he stood in the center of a million people of all shapes, sizes and colors directing all of the conversation on and through his body alone as if he were some kind of catalyst for them. He can not hear a single thing they say but knows anyway, as if he could see the very thought, color and life in every word. _

"_Ther' chu are boyo!" __Kaku whirls around, having not sensed the presence. Before him is a great tree that appeared to be made of moonbeams and blue starlight. And in front of the tree is Maruklen. "Loverly ain't she?" she says fondly, a gnarled hand reaching out to lightly grasp a few tendrils of the willow and runs her fingers over them, a humming likened to running your fingertips along the rim of a glass. The sound was beautiful to his ears._

"_Yer wrong the' boyo." she cuts into his thoughts and he wonders if she can read his mind. Who knew what witch doctors were capable of? The woman smiles as if amused. "Chu 'ave ben curs-ed wi' a blessin'. Nevah agin shall ye join th' world in all five of yer senses, but rathuh, ye shall feel, taste, touch an' smell the song of th' world 'nd all th' things in 'nd part of et. A mooch bettah bargain in mah opinyon."_

_She pauses as Kaku struggles to come to terms with this. "Why?" he finally asks and gasps. There is no sound, but he watches as the sound leaves his mouth, interpreting the color and vibration for the word. _

"_Tis as Eywa wills et. Ye jus' saw fer yeself the gift ye now 'ave. Each 'nd ever-y sound, thought 'nd movement has its oown song, 'nd now ye shall know et. Think of et as a type of sonar. Dis wasn't too uncoomun among humans, but as weh are prond ta do, we replaced th' true wi' somtin' weaker. Thi' came ta beh when we learn-ed ta lie, but tha' isn't impoortant righ' naw. Changes are coomin' soon boyo, 'nd thi' is th' least of yer worries. Hard as they will be fer ye, make choices while ye still 'ave 'em. Protect th' Priestess, Kaku, fo' if sheh dies, so doos ze world!" With a flourish, she swings an arm and a strong gust of wind spirits Kaku away until he lands on a path of some sort. _

_Vertigo grabs hold of him as he stares at a not-path made of nothingness yet a somethingnes. A disturbance in the air directs his attention behind him where a hill rose. Something tells him that the feeling was that of footsteps, and their pitch belonged to that of a small child. Recalling how he was supposed to see differently, he focuses on the hill and through it. He feels his mind send out a soundless echo, which returns with the outline of a person, colors changing to identify the whoosh of an arm as it swings, her mouth when she exhales a different shade to when she inhales, each with a particular feel. The image in his mind was both blurry and amazingly distinct. Mana._

_Suddenly a stinging sensation makes itself known in his nostril and his eyes snap open again to reveal-_

Finally his lungs quiet, leaving his throat feeling dry as sandpaper. The darkness is as absolute as the silence, the only assurance he is still alive being the pain present in his head as his ears still ached. He shuffles around, irritated to find the bandages still entangled him with Mana and... feeling around he finds to his concern that Alfred was not with them. Must have been thrown loose from the impact. The bandages remain dazed for a moment until their programming kicked in, searching for any damage areas. Kaku flinches when he feels the wrappings slither, climbing up his body as they follow the scent of blood. Finally having identified the leak, they wrap around his head above his eyes and sealing his ears. He waits a moment but nothing else happens. One of his legs was numb and he kicked it, foot coming into contact with a small, feathered object.

With an angry chirp, Flint jabs him in the leg.

"Ouch!" he glares into the vicinity of where the rooster likely is although now he can stand safely with the feeling back in the limb. Cradling Mana's still unconscious form with a single arm, he uses the other to push himself upright against a wall and notices how his hand curves into it. Now that he remembers, when he awoke his back had been curving with the wall he's been laying against. Standing up slowly he straightens up to his full height in front of what feels like a large metal wall. He runs his hand along the smooth metal, feeling what might have been engravings inside it. Where it came from or why it was even in a hospital is beyond him. Suddenly a jolt of static shoots up his arm. Out of nowhere, tiny dots of light start swirling around over the wall as if he stood in front of a tornado of fireflies. Gradually, the lights start to clump together, forming lines and curves here and there until before him is a single sentence:

**Kaku-san has recovered?**

"Alfred?" he exclaims. The data bits scatter into a small cloud and quickly reform.

**Hai, Kaku-san.** **One has switched to defensive stasis where One forms One's armor into a protective shell. Shall One terminate current state?**

**"...**Sure." what he mistakes as engravings reveals itself to be the android's inner circuitry, lighting up on the shield as a faint blue. Bold lines of red cut through and along these the shield begins to fold until a block-like humanoid figure stood before him, still glowing scarlet until the ends of the 'limbs' twist and morph ino fingers and toes, then over the body emerges clothes and finally the shade and texture alters to that of skin. Back in his butler form stands Alfred, eyes glowing white like a pair of flashlights, lighting up the area wherever he gazed.

"It apears the area is stable for now." Alfred states, turning to look at the giant metal pole in the middle of the room, Kaku following the gaze. Alrfed then looks up, revealing the ceiling. Their eyes widen in horror at the several large cracks in the cement, sinking bit by bit from the weight of the water flooding above it along with the failing support of its metal beams.

"RUN!" Kaku screams. He turns only to stumble over a piece of rubble in the dark. Alfred grabs the back of his tank top, an unpleasant grey due to the dust on it and tucks him under his arm. Flint jumps onto the android's shoulder just before he, with a giant leap, takes off for the nearest passageway. Behind them, with a great groan, the celing collapses, dirty water and boulders slamming into where they'd been but a moment before.

Rumbling fills the air, Kaku feeling the vibration of the water's power as it chases them down the hall, his instincts screaming to flee as he recalls the last time he'd been submerged in the liquid. The hall is long with random bits of rubble that Alfred easily skirts around and sometimes over, his eyes illuminating the way as if they were a train racing down a tunnel, the light's brilliance so sharply contrasting with shadow that Kaku has trouble from discerning wether he was back in that other world or the real one. Alfred comes to a halt in front of a huge chunk of rock effectively blocking what could only be an exit on the other side for there are no more doors or windows to use.

"Alfred, put me down and give me my swords!" the android hurries to oblidge and then opens a compartment in its stomach, plunging both hands in and rummaging around before flinging two objects at him. Kaku catches them deftly and with an invisible flick of the wrist releases the sticks from their sheathes- wait what?

Alfred starts to edge away when the swordsman shoots out a hand and grabs his bowtie, once again shoving his face into the hapless machine's, although not as close so he could read the other's lips still.

"**Alfred..." **he growls.

"It was an accident, One swears! They were there and then... not." he adverts his eyes after the last part, casting them in darkness and instead revealing the wave of water fast approaching them. "AHHH! Kaku-san look!" unable to see his pointing finger or hear his warning he turns the man's head (or at least tries to, what was up with this human's strength?). Before they know it, the wall of water is on top of them. A look of determination settles on Kaku's face and he shoves Mana into the mech's arms with the command of "Hold her." before striding forward.

"Wait!" Alfred cries out although of course the man wouldn't hear him, much less have listened either way. Kaku studies the situation, grateful that Alfred has the common sense to still illuminate the wave. _Any regular **soru** isn't going to fix this... think , isn't there anything I can_ _use?_

He clenches his eyes shut in concentration, shifting through the very few memories of his past he had until he fixated on the demon. As the monstrosity's nine swords sliced through his flash, Alfred cries out in shock as he watches Kaku's body morph from that of a human to some yellow creature with brown spots, standing several feet tall with a rectangular, long neck. Still with his eyes closed and lost in a battle he struggles to remember, he subconsciously places one arm on the ground, holding his body horizontal before slowly turning. Faster and faster he spins, until finally he feels the technique reach its peak. His eyes snap open, shining with battle lust and power before bellowing: "**RANKYAKU 'AMANE DACHI!'" **a bright circle appears around him before shooting out in all directions, slicing through and dispersing the flood and boulder.

All is still for a moment until Kaku returns to the present, the memory of the move already forgotten. Without noticing, his body slowly shrinks back into his human form. Dazed, he looks around to see nothing. _Where is the water?_ He turns to Alfred, mouth open to question him when a sudden explosion throws the group back. The swordsman deftly twists in the air and flips, landing lightly on the balls of his feet, using the sheathes of his former swords to shield his face from the shards of rock shooting from the once mighty boulder.

Sunlight finally graces the inside of the building, blinding him.

"Target located." a deep voice states. Cracking open an eye, the dark silhoutte of five people emerge, two adults, a teenager and twin children. But what catches his attention most is all of them were armed and aiming straight at him.


End file.
